§ 76. Mr. Errollasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware that in a recent court case concerning the valuation of unquoted shares for Estate Duty purposes, it was made known that the Estate Duty office had originally valued the shares at £4 4s. 2d. each, had then revised the estimate to £1 14s. and then to £1 5s. each, before court proceedings commenced, while, as a result of the proceedings, the judge valued them at only 19s. each; and the principles which guide the Estate Duty office when making such valuations.
§ Mr. Boyd-Carpenter£3, not £4 4s. 2d., was the highest figure put forward by the Estate Duty office. The taxpayer's lowest figure was 11s. 3d. Independent experts consulted by the Revenue quoted £1 14s. and £1 5s. Other experts suggested values from 12s. 2d. upwards at the hearing. These wide differences in expert valuations reflect the difficulty of valuing shares for which no open market exists.
153WThe principle which the law lays down is that similar shares should be valued at the actual or notional equivalent of the market price.