Have we lost the ‘art’ in UK tax valuations?

When I started my tax valuation seat more than 20 years ago one of the first things my boss at that time said was ‘put three valuers in a room and you will get three different answers’. As someone who studied law not finance or accounting this did not perturb me in the slightest. Tax valuations are based on what a hypothetical prudent purchaser would pay for a certain size of holding and our mammoth book of case law provided me with enough evidence that views will differ and outcomes will also be within a range of ‘reasonableness’. The key is presenting your view on valuation in a persuasive and robust manner. I remember also being told that you cannot ‘learn’ valuations. Yes it...