The Upper Tier Tribunal (UTT) sitting on HMRC v Murray International Holdings (MIH) has ordered HMRC’s demand for unpaid tax to be reduced substantially. Claims Sir David Murray Employee Benefit Trust should be taxed were dismissed, but the UTT was not prepared to endorse that guaranteed bonus payments paid to Rangers players should not be taxed.
During the First Tier Tribunal MIH acknowledged tax should have been paid on EBTs given to a further five players, who were removed from the judgement (although the tax was never paid). Lord Nimmo Smith’s SPL Inquiry found Rangers guilty of not disclosing side-letters given to players which contractually bound EBT payments and arrangements. The Inquiry issued Oldco Rangers with a fine of £250,000. Newco Rangers agreed to pay all of Oldco’s football debts as a price to gain entry to the SFA and league structure. It is anticipated this fine will be collected in the event the club reaches top flight football.
Rangers did not dispute they operated an illegal Discount Options Scheme, which was uncovered by Craig Whyte’s investigators, when he carried out due diligence before buying the club from Sir David Murray. Tax due on this scheme was never paid.
Once in control, Whyte continued to operate the club’s tax arrangements in similar ethical standards. He failed to pay VAT, PAYE or National Insurance. Several hundred other creditors were left in the lurch as the club was liquidated.
At its heart, this is a morality tale. The first lesson which should be drawn is that it is far better to disclose your tax arrangements to the authorities than to hide them. When Celtic employed Juninho, who had an earlier EBT, they disclosed this fact and subsequent transactions to HMRC (Celtic never issued rule-breaking side-letters either).
Perhaps the most important lesson is not to allow debt to get out of control. Armed with the Discount Options Scheme and tax not paid on contractually guaranteed bonuses, HMRC were legally bound to pursue the club for money the tax payer was due – and will almost certainly never be paid.
Once that train was in motion, the club was at the mercy of its bank. MIH held substantial commercial property assets at this time, when the UK commercial property market took an average 45% nosedive. Then the bank itself (HBOS) was sold, exposing legacy arrangements to full commercial scrutiny.
Even then, even then, Rangers could have used the bonus of Champions League income to either rapidly pay-down their bank debt, or retain as a hedge against the consequences of the on-going tax dispute. Instead Walter Smith returned to the transfer market, spending what he could to keep his nose in front of Celtic.
This was an arrogant and fatal mistake.
When Whyte put his £1 on the table there was nothing the Independent Board Committee could do to dissuade Sir David from selling, but by then all the cards had been played, an insolvency event was on the horizon unless someone coughed up £18m to repay the overdraft, and no one was prepared to do this.
In the unedifying final days the club was reduced to turning, cap in hand, to lifelong adversaries to ask for rule changes which never arrived.
Despite all of this, humility among this lot is scarcer than a fully paid up tax receipt.
It took dozens of people working to promote Rangers on-field activities to kill the club. Those who failed to disclose side-letters, those who allowed debt to get out of control, those who sat on boards which endorsed Smith’s spending knowing the potential consequences, those who campaigned against the people who disclosed Whyte’s background, were all necessary for this outcome. Their reputations are now co-dependent
Celtic fans, HMRC nor the SFA killed Rangers. None of them* knew about the Discount Options Scheme, the undisclosed side-letters, the unpaid VAT, PAYE or NI bills. None of them decided to spend more than was prudently possible.
Killing Rangers was an inside job. The biggest rivalry in football is gone; we won, by an avalanche of own goals.
*apart from SFA president Campbell Ogilvie, who knew exactly what was going on.
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DELANEYS DUNKY
Ah,bollox.
Off to work without the happy thoughts I was having of collars being felt.
Ok,I exaggerated wi the last bit. They seem untouchable.
Bluegrass Celt hahahahahaha in praise of Joan Burnie. What a fecking embarresment. A joke beyond and beneath contempt.
Morrisey it’s not a statement of fact but opinion. I dont deal in FACTS apps FACTS are generally misuse of facts. I stand by my opinion wand welcom debate. Bring it on.
BMCUW
You know I ran a dry clean business. Have many stories to tell about Mr Benn. ;))
Bobby I fear you are missing the point. Celtic were the ones who we4e supposed to send the letter and haven’t. Celtic are about to alienate all of us………
Jamesgang, I bet Tallybhoy is a big fan of Nicola Bernadettie. Easy on the eye and no bad on the devils instrument.
Neganon, I bit the bullet and renewed my SB for this season. I curious as to what you chose to do?
Next season and what happens in this one will shape my thinking, the alienation of the support was foremost in my thinking when I originally decided not to renew. The reason I did was a more simple one, I decided I just wanted to support our players on the park and put the bullshit on hold for one more season.
did you renew?
theres a legal dispute with first bus glasgow & the unions right now
no doubt unon members will get the blame for the fire
ACGR
Stunning. Much like your handsome self!
HH jamesgang
Wee Nicola B not daft, either. Very adroitly sidestepped the Yes/No trap set for her on BBC breakfast yesterday.
Neganon2
Sorry for being so disappointedly open minded. Please forgive me, must do better :)
Jamesgang, you know how to get round me ya sweet talkin big bassa.
When are you bringing that Carmyllie lass back to her roots? I’ve got a Barbie that’s never been fired up all summer.
I’ve also got a sausage wi your name on it………………………finnar finnar etc:-)
I renewed ceilor. I keep hoping my faith is retreaded but I think I know the answer. It’s like the girl you love who is abusing you but you love her and keep making excuses for the way she treats you. Eventually your sense of self respect will allow you to let go.
It’s either that or we fight the suits for our club. These guys treat us with nothing but contempt. We are their fodder. They just want our cash. With tonight’s news from Canamalar we now know they want the bigot pound too. Are we willing to play the victim I’m this story and to pay for the priviliage?
Bluegrasscelt you are perfectly entitled to your opinion. And I am to disagree with you. You are wrong (in my opinion).
bluegrass celt, FFS don’t tell him your voting yes. Doing better will not be an option.
I’m voting yes and couldn’t give a shite what neganon or anyone else thinks. It’s my choice, I’ll do as I choose, everyone else with a vote can do likewise.
Neganon
Afore , Ah depart..
So..
Let’s Say we “Throw the Rascals..OOT!” ..as YOU .. Perennially.. suggest.
Then Whit?
Over tae YOU.. Cecil.
Let’s Hear Ye..
Kojo
Still,Laughin
A Ceiler Gonof Rust
00:35 on
11 July, 2014
bluegrass celt, FFS don’t tell him your voting yes. Doing better will not be an option.
I’m voting yes and couldn’t give a shite what neganon or anyone else thinks. It’s my choice, I’ll do as I choose, everyone else with a vote can do likewise.
………………………………..
noo that has cheered me up …………braw …power to your garden …:)
Neganon
They’ve wanted the bigot pound all along ….look at our transfer policy these last two years
Also , glaring deficiencies last season …no sign of bring addressed
We await the return ( as our board see it ) of a Rangers …spend some money , hype it up …back to the good old days….SFA accommodation and blatant MIB cheating …cannae wait
No ST this season and frankly no intention ….CFCs custodians have no integrity
Neganon, I only met you very briefly at CQN10 and you were oota yer box at the time:-)
I’m glad you renewed, like I’m happy that I did. My “stuff in my head” has not gone away, I’ve put it on hold and will wholeheartedly support our eleven men as I’ve always done. I really cant wait to get back inside paradise.
I’d like to meet you for a few beers at a game during the season. I’d love to see if you really are as miserable in real life as you portray yourself on here.
I wont have young acgr with me this season as he’s off to uni so I’ll probably be staying down in fun city after a lot of our home games. Glasgow’s finest have a suite reserved for me.
That’s a genuine offer BTW
HH
Regardless of my vote for a yes or a no, the wee wummin gave a good account of herself along with Ricky. She made some good points for people to consider and that’s what debating is all about. Nae point convincing a Yae to a Nae or a Nae to a Yae if you don’t have someone giving you something to ponder over. Just sayin likes :)
The latest deed club revelations are all the fault of the Celtic Board then, eh …..?
Sorry that so many hopes were raised by the post, but McGills bus depots and asbestos rich structures seem not to be hot to touch.
However, hope folk are all safe.
Beat hot @ 00.28
She oozes class and clever cookie!
Right. Shower n bed time.
Time to move over for the moonhowlers!
HH jamesgang
Jamesgang
Finally. . . .a compliment on here!
Night ACGR.
‘Guard my sausage till my lady appears on your doorstep’
Code or script from the world’s corniest porn flick?!?
HH jamesgang
Neustadt-Braw, how you doing bruv? I had a cracking wee trip yesterday through the Angus countryside. I had to go to Alyth to see my graphic designer….aye aye:-)
Just about to bottle another cask and the lady who did the last one has been awarded the job for this one, she’s is one talented lady. She’s managed to turn a very drab looking photo of the Linkwood distillery into a masterpiece for my next label.
Anyway, I took the acgr boogie bus through all the wee back roads to places I’ve never been before. What a beautiful little county Angus is…………A braw county.
When are you back here?
kojo. I think I put forward my so called manifesto in that’s cqn magazine. Ow it’s not rocket science. It’s pretty sensible stuff. See the thing is that dealing with some issues is pretty straightforward. That’s not to say its easy.
But you see the thing is those who run celtic don’t have the same goals as the support. No matter how much they pretend they have thy are lying. It’s even worse than a customer supplier relationship because our board believe they have a captive audience and they are trying to exploit that. But the game changer is the Hun situation. It’s now clear, even more so given Canamalars revelation this evening, that celtic are salivating at the return of the Hun. Celtic are complicit in the cover up with the Hun. They want the sectarian pound.
And here we are. We are essentially being asked to watch the equivalent of a wrestling match hilts being told that catholic wrestlers are inferior.
So kojo what is there for me to support?
Beat hot, beat joy (latest iPhone prompt!), Beatbhoy…. What’s the diff!!!
I’m sure you’re all of the above!
HH jamesgang
Ceiler it would b my pleasure to buy you a beer or two. It would have to be at the weekend game as I work in the Netherlands during the week. So let’s get a Saturday game sorted. It would be great to debate in person. It’s always more interesting that way.
PFayr, I sent you an email a few weeks back with the attachments we spoke about.
Did you receive it?
Cell for 2 please!!!
HH jamesgang
Bluegrasscelt if you are referring g to Joan Burnie. Naw she didn’t she was pathetic and the most anti intellectual idiot (without the savant) I have heard for ages….
Pfayre. I think Canamalars news tonight tells me you are right. But there are no winners eh?
Neganon, that works for me. I’ll bring gaffer tape, my chib and a feather.
HH bruv
ACGR
don’t think so
Was it my office one or home ??
neganon2
00:54 on 11 July, 2014
Well said! agree completely!
Are These Bhoys back in town?
Neganon
Well, no winners at CFC ..other than finance guys
Really fed up with the whole business .
IMO CFC fans are being taken for fools