IVARO confirmed that, in Ireland, the way ARR applies is different to the UK in that it is the seller, rather than the buyer, who is responsible for paying the ARR levy.
For auctions, this can be done by the vendor paying the levy directly to the auction house which will in turn forward it to IVARO, or by the seller contacting IVARO directly.
When it comes to artists’ estates selling works, unlike the UK where ARR applies to these sales (see ATG no 2408), IVARO told ATG that these transactions are considered to be ‘sales’ in Ireland rather than ‘resales’, and so no fee is sought in these instances.
This therefore avoids the potentially curious situation in which an artist’s estate, where it is also the rightful beneficiary of ARR, would have had to pay the ARR levy to itself.
