Huge tax bill 'could saddle Rangers with £80m debt' - The Scotsman .
The Scotsman reports:
Glasgow [Rangers football] club has reportedly been handed a £24m "assessment" by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) after an investigation into offshore payments made to players during the past decade.
The club fears the fine, combined with interest of £12m and possible additional penalties, could reach up to £54m.
As all commentators predict, some form of insolvency arrangement will follow.
As the report continued:
"We've been hit with a £24m 'assessment' from the taxman. The implications are horrifying. The interest could be £12m and there may also be a penalty element of between £12m and £18m. This is a desperate situation."
The tax bill relates to alleged loans that Rangers players received from employee benefit trusts administered by the club's parent company, Murray International Holdings, owned by Sir David Murray, who announced his decision to step down from the Ibrox board last August.
This is offshore tax abuse undermining society as we know it.
This is accountants and lawyers destroying something of real value through their greed and erroneous belief that tax avodiance is acceptable.
This is the harsh reality of the secrecy of offshore being abused to allow payments that were illegal in the UK - with that secrecy hiding them from view for so long the impact of discovery is potentially lethal.
There is a solution of course. It's called openess, honesty, transparency and tax compliance.
Buty this may be too late for a number of clubs. The Scotsman notes again:
HMRC is also investigating the use of employee benefit trusts by a number of English clubs.
For more read the Christian Aid report on transparency in football.
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“”This is accountants and lawyers destroying something of real value through their greed and erroneous belief that tax avodiance is acceptable”.
Rubbish, do you think the clubs were unaware that this was happening.
This is clubs spending more on players salaries than they can afford plus the basing players pay on after tax returns.
I put a very high bet on the fact they did not know the risks they were taking
Greedy people seldom do- however, caveat emptor.
But if they have been misled by their advisers, they could look closely at an action for misrepresentation or perhaps gross negligence if the adviser acted beyond his ability.
Look, Rangers is a public company and one assumes that the directors, particularly the independents will exercise their minds in accordance with their fiduciary duty. If not they are at fault, not the advisers
Richard
You are right. The evidence that I have seen re the mis-selling of tax advice to football clubs regardong EBTs is truly frightening. There are unqualified, aggressive salesmen out there who are misrepresenting the facts and whose tax departments are throwing their hands up in horror at what their own sales forces have been saying. But one key fact to point out is that many of these EBTs are set up onshore, not offshore, as there is no tax reason to go offshore if the funds are merely being loaned out to the beneficiaries.