Like a good wine, Business and Agricultural Property Relief,now in its fifth edition, continues to improve with age. Its breadth and gravitas, favourably underpinned by its competitive price (at date of publication), ensure its rightful place as a key reference work in the library of any professional who practises in this complex area. This book cannot be anything other than highly recommended.

Long regarded as one of the few experts in inheritance tax law, Toby Harris has continued to stamp his authority on this subject matter through his direct approach to the body of its content. The facts speak for themselves: the current edition spans in excess of 600 pages, comprises 23 chapters, is supported by nine appendices, provides a comprehensive list of the main statute references and tables the key tax cases current to date of publication. The index, so critical for the reader’s instant direction and from my experience of other published works often poorly managed, is detailed, refreshingly clear and easy to follow. In essence, the book works.

The current edition benefits from a redesigned format that not only distinguishes it from its four predecessors but also enables a better technical understanding by the reader. Each chapter opens with a general overview to set the scene before providing the working detail. Key text is bulleted for easier identification and pertinent examples not only illustrate and support the point at issue but are continued and developed in later chapters. Most welcome is the full cross-referencing – a great time-saver.

‘This book cannot be anything other than highly recommended’

True to the title, agricultural property relief (APR) and its sibling, business property relief (BPR), are dealt with in equal coverage and detail, but, in a welcome move, this book expands significantly on the subject matter of earlier editions. For example, chapter 12 has been extended to deliver a clearer and more illustrative narrative of the overlap of these two headline reliefs, so easily misunderstood in practice. Furthermore, chapters 13, 14 and 15 move away from the day-to-day technical application of the rules by specifically addressing the use of APR and BPR in a planning context, through the use of tax shelters and will planning.

However, while invaluable for the professional practitioner in this field, the highly technical nature of the subject matter is such that its depth of coverage is not suitable for the lay reader or casual practitioner. But there is no question this book ticks all the right boxes by providing a comprehensive, up-to-date and well-written reference work on a very complex subject. My only criticism? I would prefer to see it in hardback rather than soft-cover format. Experience shows that good books are well-thumbed, and I expect this edition will be no different.