The First-tier Tribunal held that the value of a company’s shares gifted to charity should be based on specialist evidence by HMRC’s valuation expert witness and not the amount claimed by the appellant based on the company’s limited trading on AIM. 

The appellant made gifts of shares in a company (AI) to a charity during the tax year 2003/04. The company was incorporated in June 2003 and became a public company in July 2003. The appellant received 190,000 shares as a gift on 1 April 2004 and donated 190,000 shares to charity on 2 April 2004. The appellant claimed relief based on a share value of £80,750, derived from alternative investment market (AIM) trading prices, as some trading of AI shares had occurred on the AIM.  

The appellant claimed relief on his self-assessment return for the tax year 2003/04 under ICTA 1988, s 587B on the basis that the gifted shares were worth £80,750. Following an enquiry