ICAEW expects legal privilege court role
Institute's request to take part in Supreme Court hearing into legal professional privilege set for clearance
THE LATEST ROUND in the battle for legal professional privilege (LPP) for tax advisors should see the ICAEW allowed to present its stance to the Supreme Court.
Last week, the Law Society was granted permission to intervene in Prudential’s appeal to the Supreme Court to allow LPP to be extended to the tax profession and its clients.
Accountancy Age understands that the ICAEW expects to also receive permission to intervene this week.
The legal and accounting professions took opposite sides during the Court of Appeal hearing a year ago. The court ruled that it was not its duty to extend privilege beyond lawyers and solicitors, despite suggesting that tax advisors would often be better able to provide tax advice than lawyers.
Prudential was fighting against revealing tax advice documents to HM Revenue & Customs. The taxman had issued a notice compelling the insurer to provide the information about a tax scheme provided by PwC.
Earlier this month, the Australian government took another step towards opening LPP to tax advisors after launching a consultation.