In the light of the recent statement by the Tax Justice Network, William Underhill considers whether directors have a fiduciary duty to minimise tax.
The Tax Justice Network has recently published a letter which it had sent to the CEOs of the FTSE 100 companies attaching a legal opinion from Farrer & Co (the ‘Farrer opinion’) to the effect that UK company directors have no fiduciary duty to their shareholders to avoid tax.
According to Tax Justice Network: ‘It is often asserted that UK company directors have a fiduciary duty to their shareholders to avoid tax’. The Farrer opinion is intended to show that there is no legal basis for such a statement.
In my view the position is more complicated than the Farrer opinion suggests....
