Margaret Thatcher’s papers have been donated to the nation in a bid to reduce inheritance tax liability…
Following the death of Baroness Margaret Thatcher in 2013, it was revealed last month private hand written papers written by Thatcher during her time at No 10, have been donated to the nation in lieu of £1 million inheritance tax liability. The documents which include a 17,000 word memoir written in 1983 during the height of the Falklands War will be held at the Margaret Thatcher Foundation at Churchill College Cambridge. The documents were cited by the Arts Council England as “The single most significant historical document Margaret Thatcher ever wrote.”
The donation was made in accordance with a Government Scheme known as The Acceptance in Lieu Scheme ( AIL) which enables tax payers to transfer important works of art and other heritage objects into public ownership without paying tax. It has been reported this donation will more than half the £1.8 million inheritance tax liability due on the former Prime Minister’s £4.7 million estate. Thatcher’s children Sir Mark Thatcher and his twin sister Carol received offers in excess of £1million from a University in the US but wanted to ensure these historical papers remained in the UK.
The AIL scheme provides a valuable means of preserving national treasures and has provided objects worth more than £140 million to public collections over the years. Examples of other works donated under this scheme include letters written by Charles Darwin and lyrics by John Lennon.