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property leased for a cash rental generally does not qualify for
special use valuation, and this method requires a determination
of the average rent on similar property that is leased.
Some differences invariably exist between any two timber
properties, and Dr. Haney addressed such modest differences in
his reports. First, he noted that the timber on one of the five
estate tracts was virtually identical to the timber on one of the
five leased tracts. He concluded, however, that a comparison to
all five leased tracts would be more reliable. Second, he noted
that the timber quality and capability of the five leased tracts
were somewhat superior to the timber quality on the five estate
tracts. On the basis of this difference, he concluded that a
downward adjustment of no more than 10 percent was warranted.
Such an adjustment is inappropriate as it does not comply
with Congress' purpose in providing a simple, objective "Method
of valuing farms" in section 2032A(e)(7), which is embodied in
section 20.2032A-4(b)(2)(iii), Estate Tax Regs., and which
prohibits the use of appraisals because they are not true
measures of the actual cash rental value of comparable property
in the same locality as the specially valued property.
Here, the five estate tracts and the five leased tracts are
tracts of land of the same general size in the same locale, used
for the same agricultural purpose, with the same soil and same
slope. On the basis of normal timberland valuation principles
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