Chris Hart - Background

Chris Hart, FRICS, is a specialist in UK property taxation. From 1984 to 1989 he was a First Class Valuer in Chief Executives Office of the VOA, specialising in property taxation and in particular Income and Corporation Tax [including Capital Gains Tax] and Capital Allowances. He devised and codified the Inland Revenue’s method of apportionment for Capital Allowances in “second hand buildings”.

From 1989 to 1999 he was a partner in GVA Grimley initially specialising in Taxation, Tax Based Property Finance and Compulsory Purchase and more lately in PFI and PPP schemes. He now practices on his own account offering specialist consultancy services to a variety of clients including Sir Robert McAlpine, Diageo Plc, Guinness, Imerys, Aggregate Industries and Alfred McAlpine Limited.

He has been a member of the RICS Taxation Policy Panel since 1984, serving as Chairman from 1992 to 1999, and is currently Vice Chairman, he lectures extensively on Taxation subjects and has appeared on both Radio and TV for the RICS.

Since 1984 he has been involved in detailed consultations with HMRC on the impact of primary legislation.

He is RICS representative on the Customs and Excise Land and Property Consultative Group and sits on the working party examining the Option to Tax and its ramifications, he also sits on the sub-group looking at definitions of Buildings, Land etc.

He is also involved in a working party jointly sponsored by the RICS and BPF looking at Property Taxation and Valuation under self-assessment, together with HMRC. He has represented the RICS before Parliamentary Committees and written articles for Taxation Magazines Codicil, The Estates Gazette and Property Week.

He is primary author and editor of the RICS’s Valuations for Taxation purposes guidance paper, which has been agreed with the VOA and was published in February 2000 and include in “The Red Book” from June 2002. He can be contacted on (01789) 470740 or email at chrishart@propertytaxationspecialists.com