Mark McLaughlin highlights the importance of checking the accuracy of informal tax advice.
When it comes to informal advice on subjects such as tax, a common expression is that the advice was given by the colloquial ‘man in the pub’, particularly if that advice turns out to be wrong.
Where tax advice given by non-tax qualified friends or family (or even by an actual ‘man in the pub’!) results in a tax compliance failure by the recipient of that tax advice, the question arises whether HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) can impose a penalty for that breach.
NB. Where a tax
