Legal Professional Privilege for Accountants

In October 2010, the Court of Appeal judged that legal professional privilege should not be extended to accountants and would only apply to qualified lawyers.  The case is Prudential v HMRC.

However The Supreme Court has now granted leave for an appeal to be made against the Court of Appeal’s decision, which is somewhat unexpected. 

The case could have a significant impact on the documents which HMRC are able to attain from accountants in tax investigation cases.