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The High Court in England has ruled that PricewaterhouseCoopers must pay £1.6m in damages for negligent advice it gave to Keele University.
The Daily Telegraph reports that an error made by the accounting firm resulted in a profit-related pay scheme being cancelled at enormous cost to the university.
Keele had wanted to save around £800,000 a year in tax through the scheme, but it ended up losing £1.2m when it was withdrawn. It also had a tax bill to pay of more than £100,000, on top of professional fees.
Mr Justice Hart awarded Keele compensation because, he said: “The loss of the chance to obtain the anticipated savings was, in my judgment, a direct result of PW's negligence.”
A spokesman for PwC said that the judgment was very finely balanced, with only one of several counts going against. “It is very likely we will appeal,” the firm said.
