The British Government has deferred a tax relief aimed at helping to cover the costs of developing permanent, temporary or touring exhibitions in order to pass its Finance Bill before the General Election on 8 June.

Granting a subsidy of up to £80,000 for non-touring exhibitions or £100,000 for touring exhibitions, chancellor Philip Hammond made the pledge to broaden the scope of the Treasury’s museums and galleries tax relief in November following the delivery of his Autumn Statement. The relief would have come into retrospective effect from 1 April 2017.

According to the Treasury, there has been no policy change in terms of the relief, however until a new government is in place there is now no guarantee the provision will come into effect.

“It’s a shame that the museums and galleries tax relief has been deferred to a new parliament as it would have potentially benefited many museums and galleries throughout the UK,” said Sharon Heal, director of the museums association.

“I hope that the new government sticks to this commitment and that parliamentary time can be found as quickly as possible.”

If the provision comes into force, the government will review the tax relief in 2020, which will expire in April 2022.