In Knights and others v Townsend Harrison Ltd [2021] EWHC 2563 (QB) (24 September 2021) the High Court dismissed a claim for damages made by the clients of an accountancy firm in respect of failed tax schemes to which the firm had introduced them.
Mr and Mrs Knights were the directors and shareholders of Evergreen a company which sold decorative artificial plants. The defendant TH Ltd was a firm of chartered accountants which acted as accountants to the Knights and Evergreen. TH Ltd introduced the claimants to several promoters of avoidance schemes and Evergreen entered into three of the schemes. At the time of the hearing two of the schemes (the OneE and Qubic schemes – both disguised remuneration schemes) had failed to achieve the desired tax savings and the third (the Elysian scheme – a pension liberation scheme) seemed likely to do so.
The...
