Taxes help bring culture to the people

Everyone has the right to participate in the cultural life of the community and enjoy the arts. Taxes help make heritage accessible.

Europe is renowned worldwide for its cultural heritage – from its archaeological sites, museums and monuments to audio-visual works, customs and traditions. In fact, this heritage has been recognised by UNESCO with 453 inscribed sites in Europe. This accounts for almost half of UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

The right of accessibility

Accessibility to cultural heritage has many dimensions including, but not limited to, physical, intellectual, financial and social ones.

A portion of the taxes collected by EU Member States go towards addressing these dimensions with the aim of reducing accessibility barriers – both now and in the future. Some actions have included providing free entry to certain museums and sites, tax breaks and other types of incentives.  

In addition to these, and according to the European Commission report on Cultural Heritage: Digitisation, Online Accessibility and Digital Preservation, Member States are also continuously working on making the most of digital technologies to record, document and preserve Europe’s cultural heritage and make it available online. These include library and archival materials, museum collections and sound and audio-visual heritage. Digital preservation is needed to ensure Europe’s cultural diversity, shared history and values found in the vast and rich collections of Europe’s libraries and museums for example, can be shared and accessible for future generations to come. This is why Member States have established EU-funded programmes for digitalisation.

There are also many other examples of how Member States are ensuring cultural heritage is assessible to all. In Viborg, Denmark, for instance, the city is working on the development of innovative physical and communication measures to improve accessibility and to overcome historical and topographical challenges to its cultural heritage. An app, Spot Viborg, has also been developed to guide visitors through three accessible itineraries in the historic city using GPS tracking, sound and visual aids.

In Monteverde, Italy, there is an infrastructure project that aims to make the city and resources accessible and enjoyable. The project focuses on the cultural, historic and religious heritage of the area, as well as on public services and human needs. As a priority, the project aims to remove all architectural barriers to accessibility around the town and to its cultural heritage sites.

How can taxes ensure cultural heritage is accessible to all?

Taxes help pay for many of the programmes and government services that provide citizens with access to culture.

Students all around Europe can learn more about the positive impact taxes are having on their lives by watching TAXEDU’s microlearning clip, ‘Do I benefit from taxes’ as well as the consequences of not paying taxes though ‘What happens if you don’t pay your taxes’.  

The TAXEDU portal is educating the next generation of taxpayers and helping them understand that thanks to taxes, future generations will have access to Europe’s cultural heritage.