Duty of care to clients for failed tax schemes

The claimants sought damages against the defendant TH Ltd for losses that they alleged arose as a result of entering tax schemes to which they had been introduced by the defendant. Two of the tax schemes failed to achieve the expected savings and the other looked likely to fail in similar fashion.

The claimants alleged that TH Ltd owed them a common law duty of care in making the introductions to the promoters that it provided advice about the entry into the schemes for which they owed a duty of care and that it acted in breach of these duties of care resulting in the claimants suffering loss and damage.

Speaking on the matter of duty of care generally H Cawson QC sitting as a judge of the High Court considered ‘there may be circumstances in which an accountant in introducing a client...