I’m quite intrigued by the current Supreme Court battle between insurer Prudential and HM Revenue & Customs, particularly the issue of whether accountants should have the benefit of legal professional privilege when advising on tax law.

I imagine that the very thought of accountants having legal professional privilege regarding their clients’ tax matters must have HMRC’s inspectors spitting into their milky morning coffee. There are already enough cases of accountants dreaming up complicated tax avoidance schemes – just imagine what would go on if they had the protection of legal professional privilege.

Good on the accountancy institutes for giving evidence in the case and having a go at securing legal professional privilege for their members, but I can’t see it happening somehow.