The archive of the late Tony Benn has been donated to the British Library under the acceptance in lieu scheme, allowing his family to reduce a substantial inheritance tax bill.
The enormous collection, comprising several hundred thousand documents and recordings and worth around £525,000, has been gifted to the nation. It also saved the family some £210,000 in inheritance tax.
The estate of Tony Benn follows that of Baroness Thatcher, whose family donated her archive to Churchill College, Cambridge and saw their tax bill reduced by around £1 million. i would love to see how the valuations were arrived at!
Further details of the scheme may be viewed at – https://bit.ly/2NSeGQw