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Art investing: taxes and rules by country, from import VAT to export licences

Which taxes and rules apply when you invest in art? It depends on where the work is bought, imported, stored and sold. In the European Union import VAT on art can be cut to a reduced rate of at least 5% under Directive 2022/542: Italy applies 5% from 1 July 2025, France 5.5% and Germany 7%. The United Kingdom charges an effective 5%. The EU and the UK also have an artist's resale royalty, anti-money laundering checks on art dealers and export licences for older works. In the United States gains on art are taxed at a maximum federal rate of 28%. This is general information, not tax advice: rules change and depend on your situation, so ask a qualified adviser.

Key takeaways

Import VAT when a work enters the EU or the UK

Bring a painting from New York into Milan and the first bill is import VAT. Since 1 July 2025 Italy charges 5% on imports and sales of works of art, down from 10% on imports, according to Withers.

The change follows Directive 2022/542, which from 1 January 2025 lets member states apply reduced VAT to works of art as long as the rate is at least 5%, as The Art Newspaper explained on 11 June 2024. France charges 5.5% on art imports. Germany charges 7%, and from January 2025 it brought the rate on art sales down to 7% too, from 19%. Other member states make their own choices within the directive, so the rate depends on the country where the work clears customs.

The United Kingdom taxes imported works of art on a reduced value, which gives an effective VAT rate of 5%, according to the HMRC imports manual updated on 21 October 2026. The commodity code on the customs declaration has to be right, or the standard 20% may be applied.

One trap for dealers: the same directive limits combining a reduced rate at import with the margin scheme on resale. For a buyer it mostly shows up in the price a gallery quotes.

The artist's resale right

Each time a work by a living artist, or by an artist who died less than 70 years ago, is resold through an auction house, gallery or dealer in the European Union, a royalty goes to the artist or the heirs. Directive 2001/84/EC sets the scale on the sale price: 4% up to 50,000 euros, 3% from 50,000 to 200,000, 1% from 200,000 to 350,000, 0.5% from 350,000 to 500,000 and 0.25% above, with a cap of 12,500 euros per sale. Member states can set a minimum price of up to 3,000 euros below which nothing is due. The directive puts the payment on the seller, though an auction house can pass it on to the buyer through its conditions of sale.

The United Kingdom kept the same scale in pounds from 1 April 2024: it applies from a sale price of 1,000 pounds, with a cap of 12,500 pounds, according to GOV.UK.

For blue-chip art the cap is what counts. A Lucio Fontana sold in London today still carries the royalty, because Fontana died in 1968. A Claude Monet does not: he died in 1926.

The United States has no federal resale right. California had one, but in July 2018 a federal appeals court found it was largely pre-empted by federal copyright law, as reported by The Art Newspaper on 10 July 2018.

Anti-money laundering checks on art dealers

Expect to show a passport, explain where the money comes from and name the people behind any company or vehicle that buys. Since the fifth EU anti-money laundering directive (Directive 2018/843), art traders, galleries and auction houses are obliged entities for transactions of 10,000 euros or more, including series of linked payments, and so are operators storing art in duty-suspension zones. From 10 July 2027 Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 replaces most of these rules with a single regulation applied directly across the EU.

The United Kingdom has its own regime. Art market participants, dealers and auction houses handling transactions above the threshold, must register with HMRC and check their customers. The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2026 moved the threshold from 10,000 euros to 10,000 pounds, according to the HMRC guidance updated on 13 October 2026.

The United States has not extended these rules to art dealers. The Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 covered dealers in antiquities and asked the Treasury for a study on the art market; the study, published on 4 February 2022, found limited evidence of money laundering through high-value art, according to Withers.

Export licences

A work can be bought legally and still be stuck. To take a cultural good out of the European Union you need an export licence when it is more than 50 years old, no longer belongs to its creator and is worth more than the threshold in Council Regulation 116/2009: 150,000 euros for paintings, 30,000 euros for watercolours, gouaches and pastels, 50,000 euros for sculptures. Several countries, Italy and France among them, add national rules that can apply at lower values or to movement within the EU.

In the United Kingdom the Arts Council handles applications. An oil or tempera painting more than 50 years old needs a licence above 180,000 pounds, according to the Chambers Art and Cultural Property Law 2026 guide. If the work may be a national treasure, the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art applies the Waverley criteria and can defer the decision so that a UK museum has time to match the price.

For an investor this is a matter of time and price. A work that cannot travel easily has a smaller pool of buyers when it is sold.

United States: the tax on collectibles and customs

The IRS treats art as a collectible. Net gains from selling collectibles held for more than a year are taxed at a maximum federal rate of 28%, instead of the 20% maximum for most other long-term gains, according to IRS Topic 409 reviewed on 24 September 2026. State taxes and other federal surcharges can apply on top, depending on the taxpayer.

At the border, original paintings made entirely by hand fall under heading 9701 of the US tariff, with a general duty rate of zero: US Customs and Border Protection confirmed it for an oil painting from Italy in ruling N357756 of 10 February 2026. The same ruling warns that additional tariffs may apply, so check the current position before shipping.

What to ask a tax adviser before buying

This guide describes public rules. It is not tax or legal advice, and the outcome depends on your residence, the structure that holds the work and the countries it passes through. Before buying, ask an adviser where the work will be imported and at what VAT rate, who pays the resale royalty on the eventual sale, how the gain will be taxed in your country, whether the work needs an export licence, and what documents the dealer or the vehicle will ask you for.

In Unicorn Art Club the work is bought and held by a dedicated vehicle for each artist, and its costs, taxes included, are shown in the vehicle's documents. To follow how the artist's prices move at auction, use the artist pages on Unicorn Art Watch, for example artwatch.unicorn-club.com/artists/andy-warhol.

Investing involves the risk of losing capital.

Frequently asked questions

What is the import VAT on art in Italy?

5% since 1 July 2025, on imports and sales of works of art, according to Withers. Before, import VAT on art was 10%.

Who pays the artist's resale right?

Under Directive 2001/84/EC the seller pays, but an auction house can charge it to the buyer through its conditions of sale. It applies only to works by living artists or artists who died less than 70 years ago, with a cap of 12,500 euros in the EU and 12,500 pounds in the UK.

Why does an art dealer ask for my ID and source of funds?

Because EU and UK anti-money laundering rules require dealers and auction houses to check customers on transactions of 10,000 euros or more (10,000 pounds in the UK since the 2026 amendment regulations).

Do I need an export licence to take a painting out of the EU?

Yes, if it is more than 50 years old, no longer owned by the artist and worth more than 150,000 euros, under Council Regulation 116/2009. National rules can add other requirements.

How are art gains taxed in the United States?

As gains on collectibles, at a maximum federal rate of 28% for works held more than a year, according to the IRS. Ask a tax adviser for your own case.

Related guide

Sources

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