The recent announcement that UK Government is to introduce a Finance Bill after the summer recess will be good news for tourism across Scotland.
The Bill will include a new tax relief for charitable incorporated museums and galleries that develop new exhibitions, including those taken on tour. Companies under the control of local authorities will also be in the mix.
The new tax relief was originally due to be introduced in the 2017 Finance Act but legislation was delayed due to the general election. Relief at 20% for non-touring exhibitions and 25% for touring exhibitions will be capped at £500,000 of qualifying expenditure per exhibition. The Financial Secretary to the Treasury confirmed last week that it will apply to expenditure incurred from 1 April 2017 and will run to 31 March 2022.
Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of VisitScotland, said: “Tourism is the heartbeat of the Scottish economy, causing a ripple effect which touches every industry and community, creating employment and economic growth. If the UK Government’s new Finance Bill leads to new exhibitions around the country, increasing our already excellent cultural offering for visitors from around the world, then that can only be good news for Scottish tourism.”