Mr. Lauder (Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

Next week, the British Treasury will announce a series of tax breaks for individuals and companies that donate works of art to museums, a model the Financial Times describes as similar to the one already in place in the United States.

Museum directors are reportedly ecstatic. Sir Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate Modern, described the tax breaks as “a major step forward, both in encouraging philanthropy and in helping to strengthen public collections across the country.”

The news comes on the heels of a front-page investigation by The New York Times into the tax breaks received by the major art world philanthropist Ronald Lauder.