Arts figures welcome charity tax relief reversal

Sir Nicholas Hytner said the U-turn was "a source of great relief"

Leading arts figures have welcomed the government's decision to drop plans to limit tax relief on charitable giving.

<link> <caption>National Theatre</caption> <url href="http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/" platform="highweb"/> </link> director Sir Nicholas Hytner said he was "delighted... a 100% mistake [was] put right so quickly".

"We are pleased that the government has listened at last," said Stephen Deuchar, head of <link> <caption>The Art Fund</caption> <url href="http://www.artfund.org/index.php" platform="highweb"/> </link> charity.

The move followed Chancellor George Osborne's Budget announcement in March that relief would be capped at £50,000 or 25% of income from April 2013.

"The plan to cap relief on charitable donations would have had a detrimental impact on all charities and their causes," Deuchar continued.

"In the arts, it would have put at risk building projects, endowment appeals and the quality of public collections which attract millions of visitors each year."

Sir Nicholas said it was "a source of great relief" the National could now discuss donations again with wealthy philanthropists who had revised their earlier pledges in the light of the March announcement.

"We can go back to them and talk to them as though the changes were never going to take place," he told BBC Radio 4's World At One.

'Idiotic'

Charles Sumarez Smith, chief executive of the <link> <caption>Royal Academy of Arts</caption> <url href="http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/" platform="highweb"/> </link> , told the BBC News website that the government "should be applauded for doing a U-turn".

He called the original plan "an idiotic proposal which ran wholly counter to the current government's legitimate and much-publicised desire to encourage private giving".

"It quite clearly would have acted as a deterrent," he continued, calling the reversal "a fantastic relief".

Speaking on Thursday, the Chancellor said the government had "listened" to concerns raised by charity sector representatives.

"It is clear from our conversations with charities that any kind of cap could damage donations," he said.