Guest Blog by Auldheid
When helping write up the previous blog on the matter of the (mis) commissioning by Harper Macleod, lawyers to the then SPL and current SPFL, of the Lord Nimmo Smith’s investigation into side letters arising from EBTs issued by Rangers FC from July 1999 (https://sfmarchive.privateland.net/an-honest-game-convince-us/ ) .
I had it in mind that only the SFA had something to hide as a result of their President Campbell Ogilvie being fully aware of the history and distinction between the two illegal Rangers Employee Benefit Trust (REBT ) ebts of wee tax case fame not declared to Harper Macleod and the more widely known Murray Group Management Remuneration Trust (MGMRT) Big Tax Case ebts which were declared and on which LNS focussed after (wrongly)treating both types as regular.
The idea that I think most bought into in terms of the registration matters LNS investigated was that no one in football except players with side letters had participated in those schemes and that football authority, both SFA and SPL were unaware of them until their existence became public in Feb 2012. This is when the Sun first published a side letter and the possibility of mis-registration was raised, notably on Celtic Quick News then more widely particularly following an interview between Alex Thomson of Ch4 News and Hugh Adam an ex Rangers Director.
However when you think of the world of Scottish football where players socialise with each other and with journalists, then it does seem stretching it a bit to think that no one in football authority ever heard any gossip or had any enquiry and decided not to investigate the matter before 2012.
Well Rangers Administrators Duff and Phelps thought so and their lawyers Biggart Bailie asked Harper Mcleod in March 2012 why the SPL had not investigated a lot earlier on the basis that
- There had been entries every year since 2000 in Rangers Annual Accounts of sums of money being placed in employee benefit trusts
- HMRC had written to the SPL at some unknown point in the past to ask about the existence of side letters in players’ contracts.
The first argument on annual accounts was one made once public awareness of ebts widened but it was dismissed on the grounds that no one knew much about ebts in those early years and in any case properly administered ones, which they would have been presumed to have been, did not have side letters.
However it does seem likely that having written to MIH/Rangers in 2005 to enquire about the existence of side letters to De Boer and Flo (which MIH/Rangers denied holding even though they did) HMRC would have written to the SFA or SPL sometime after 2005 whenever they first became aware of side letters in players contracts with regards to the MGRT ebts of Big Tax Case fame..
That the SPL had been contacted two or three years previous to 2012 by HMRC was confirmed at a SPL Board meeting in March 2012 as a result of a question being asked by Celtic, who were unaware in 2012 that such an HMRC enquiry had been made in 2009 or 2010. It is possible of course that the connection to misregistration was not made then by the SPL executive asked, but had it been history could have been so different.
How that HMRC enquiry and what it contained was handled by the SPL executive perhaps explains not only why the SPL were so keen to take the lead on the investigation but why they were unaware of the different types of ebts at play, the enquiry in 2009/2010 presumably relating only to the MGMRT type.
The motivation of the SPL executive can be read into their advice to the SPL Board on 23rd February 2012 to instruct an immediate inspection and investigation of the financial records of Rangers with respect to the ebt payments under SPL Rule F1 and under Section G of the Rules on the basis that such an inspection and investigation might reveal prima facie evidence of a breach of SPL Rules independently of any Administrator decision or the outcome of the FTT.
The SPL Board were further advised that taking the lead on such grounds would also go some way to forestalling any attempt by the SFA to include any dependency on the outcome of either Rangers Administration (which they entered on 14th February) or the result of the FTT, (which came in November 2012.)
The desire and benefits of delinking what was at heart a registration enquiry from the much more serious use of tax evasion methods to pay players was obviously not lost on those giving the advice.
In fact in directing LNS in the way the SPL did (possibly unaware that tax evasion had already occurred with Flo and De Boer) it avoided focus on the real and still unresolved issue, were players paid by unfair means from 1999 from which sporting advantage would naturally accrue with no need for proof that it had. You cannot say this had not been thought through in the advice given.
It was also the SPL’ stance that matters concerning player payments had traditionally been considered to be for leagues.
The narrative emerging here is one of the two football authorities keeping from public gaze what individuals in both, if not the whole organisations corporately, knew about the history of ebts; the SFA knowing the history of both types from 1999/2000 onwards and the SPL possibly only knowing something of the MGMRT ebts and side letters from 2009/10 as a result of HMRC asking them questions.
Thus it suited the SFA that the SPL take the lead as much as it suited the SPL to do so but for different reasons. The SFA to keep the existence of the wee tax case ebts hidden from public view and LNS scrutiny and the SPL to avoid answering any “when did they know and why did they not act” questions.
Also if the SPL were indeed unaware of the two distinct types of ebts at play (and they may indeed have been), it explains why they never picked up that the earlier illegal ebts were missed/concealed from them by Rangers Administrators.
Perhaps the SPL and SFA were aware of the benefits to them of focusing only on the registration aspect. This could be presented as an administrative error (which LNS basically decided) rather than the possible illegal nature of the big tax case ebts after the FTT (and which might still arise from the UTT) which would present both with much more difficult and unwelcome consequences to manage and certainly would have changed the nature of the investigation from the outset had the full evidence been provided.
However unless the questions put to the SPFL in the previous blog are answered, we will never know who did what and why, but we at least will know that the LNS Investigation and its findings were a sham from the outset and should be set aside.
Perhaps BDO who are investigating the role and behaviour of Duff and Phelps according to the latest report on their work should be asking Duff and Phelps about the circumstances surrounding the concealment of vital evidence from the LNS Commission?
Och why not?
To the BDO partner investigating. Dated 9th June by web site e mail
“ I see that BDO are carrying out a probe into the conduct of administrators Duff & Phelps. Does that cover the failure to supply SPL with full documentation requested to investigate side letters in 2012?
See http://www.tsfm.net/an-honest-game-convince-us/ for background. Missing evidence is available. ”
PS: I did try to ascertain if HMRC did indeed write to the SPL and when, but they were unable to confirm or deny that they had. The enquiry and response follow. The question on who is responsible for HMRC policy in respect of collection of tax from football clubs was not given but probably due more to an oversight than any attempt to stop the question being answered.
“I hear that the liquidator’s claim brought against Collyer Bristow has been settled as of yesterday”
Not saying it is untrue but “I hear” is the journalistic equivalent of “a guy in the pub told me.”
From twitter-
Andy Newport @Andythemod9 4h
On PA wires: Hibs fan prepare to launch takeover bid. Initial plan rejected by Sir Tom Farmer but talks are on going
readcelt says:
July 9, 2014 at 3:16 pm
Quite right. The objective is to copy the process not the product. The Toyota approach was based on the pioneering work and ruthlessly sensible approach of American, W Edwards Deming. As an engineer and statistician in post-WW2 Japan, he advocated studying manufactured components that were made out of designed tolerance and instead of trying to repair them or binning them – find the process that made them and correct the process so they never arise again. Then reduce the tolerance for each component allowable from the ideal “as designed” dimensions and repeat improving the process until you have a very high quality production process. I remember an advert for the second generation Lexus which went, “The critics said the first LS400 was nearly perfect, so with over 500 improvements, we hope they’ll be more complimentary about the new LS400”. With that kind of mentality, quality just happens and excuses are redundant – Wayne, Stevie, Roy – are you listening?
However, entering a new market you can catch up quickly by taking apart your competitors’ products to see how they are designed and made – and copy techniques quickly – as the Japanese did post-war and others are doing now. It’s just common sense.
Needless to say, Deming was largely ignored in the US and Europe where the big car companies knew exactly how to make cars and exactly what customers wanted 🙂
JimBhoy says:
July 9, 2014 at 3:32 pm
@MCFC next to the article claiming the fans own 12% of rangers..
===========================================
Yeah – that’s a cracker – the fans own The Rangers and all is well in God’s Blue Room – “The future of Rangers is in our hands ” – I’ll have what she’s drinking 🙂
I hope I’m not doing him a disservice – but Paul Kane has never struck me as the brightest. And although I’m all for fan ownership, anyone that says:-
“We met with Sir Tom Farmer a couple of weeks ago and put in a proposal,” said Kane. “That has been rejected at this stage, but the door has not been closed.
“We are now drawing up a proposal for a Newco Hibernian Fans Co-Operative to own the club and the stadium.
– is potentially worth the watching. It just looks like an amalgamation of ‘Football in Crisis’ buzzwords to me.
http://www.tribunals.gov.uk/financeandtax/Documents/decisions/HMRC-v-Murray-G.pdf
UTT decision
Wish I was a Lawyer
Is my quick reading correct – that HMRC’s appeal has been rejected with the exception of a few bits and pieces that are referred back to the FTT for reconsideration ?
DECISION
Case remitted to the FTT (i) with a direction to allow the taxpayers’ appeals against the assessments relating to the payments to the sub-trusts of Sir D avid Murray, his sons, Mr McClelland, and Mr MacMillan; (ii) to proceed as accords in relation to the termination payments, the payments in respect of guaranteed bonuses, and any related questions of grossing up. Quoad ultra the appeal is dismissed.
Trubunal decision comes out this afternoon then Keith Jackson starts tweeting SDM statement almost immediately.
This also tweeted shortly before
RangersNews @RangersInter
Worth remembering that Murray aka David Fraser had no alternative but to sell. Independent Committee also conned.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/233201800/David-Fraser-aka-Sir-David-Murray …
Coincidence or SMSM still trying to twist things?
Wow…….just wow.
cmontheshire says:
July 9, 2014 at 4:40 pm
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http://www.tribunals.gov.uk/financeandtax/Documents/decisions/HMRC-v-Murray-G.pdf
UTT decision
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Excruciating reading for the layman. Best loans ever, though 😆
I suppose the footballing issue of the SFA and the side letters remains. Why did RFC feel it was inappropriate not to register them? And why were the SFA so ‘helpful’? Must leave a very bad taste among those who did everything above board.
Never A Dull Moment
So will HMRC take this lying down – they’ve expended a huge amount of effort and credibility in this test case for football EBTs. I believe they have one more appeal level left – assuming Doherty allows it – but no sure what points they can appeal against.
Would Rangers have survived without the BTC hanging over them and have been sell-able to true Rangers Men as a going concern in the SPL- David Murray would like you to think so – but we are into a whole new world of whataboutery trying to second guess that one.
The one thing that is certain in all this is that it will not impact “the current Rangers regime” – either negatively or positively. Going forward, nothing has really changed – except perhaps the stories the different factions will tell their grand children.
Interesting that Doherty points our to why the tax arrangement in the Aberdeen Asset Management case was different, basically beneficiaries had direct access to the sums lodged but not so in case of BTC ebts.
Significance of this is that De Boer and Flo were paid by illegal means and that side letters were hidden so LNS cannot stand as these payments were unlawful. But we knew that anyway.
The narrative SDM is trying to set up via Jackson is that the tax case caused administration.
It did not. The narrative is Rangers used illegal tax evasion from 2000 to 2002 and then switch to a scheme which has been rules tax avoidance. The first scheme was illegal both schemes were immoral.
They went bust because they pursued a business model totally dependent on CL money from 2007.
This raised bank debt from £6m to £31m and although it came down because of CL income from 2009 to £18M that and the lack of proper controls on Murray caused Lloyd to push for sale.
Cut off from credit and put out by Malmo they could no longer continue on a sustainable basis and went bust.
If Murray is trying to use the UTT to cover up his recklessness no doubt some will buy into it, but the truth is easy to establish just check spend and debt levels in 2007/08.
That was when the conditions to have to sell for a penny were set and Murray set them.
Auldheid,
Business model aside it is inescapable that the conditions to have to sell for a penny included the looming big tax case, which has now been largely dismissed. That, plus apparently £24m being awarded to old co from collier Bristow, means that liquidation could certainly have been avoided in the short term if these decisions had been made immediately in 2011. There is no denying that a flawed business model was followed but it is also wrong I believe to play down these additional forces behind liquidation.
Bookies Bigger Losers Than Brazil
So if David Murray was as sure of the UTT outcome as his statement suggests, no doubt he has £5mil at 10-1 at Labrokes, Coral, William Hill, Paddy Power, Victor Chandler, Stan James, etc etc etc
So he must be loaded now, tax-free, ready to buy all the RIFC plc shares and start afresh spending £10 for every £5. Can’t wait to see that.
The decision ( surprising though I find it) of the UTT does not, of course, change anything of fundamental interest to this blog. Whether SDM and the pornographic ex-lawyer and assorted others were or were not breaking tax laws and cheating the taxpayer is really neither here nor there. Our focus was, is, on the cheating of the football community by breaking Football rules and thereby gaining illicit unfair sporting advantage in a crime that was second only in gravity to match fixing.
The baddies in football terms are still baddies, and that still must be attended to properly.
What Lord Doberty has to say about the interpretation of tax legislation does not change that one little bit.
The taxpayer may not have been illegally cheated but Scottish Football and Scottish football clubs were most certainly cheated , by a combination of bad people in RFC and inefficient and complicit men in the SFA, aided by complicit propagandists in the SMSM.
Remember, the tax saga was no more than an entertaining side show. The real story is the corruption of our game by its very administrators.
The UTTT decision does not let them off the hook in any way shape or form, and does not legitimise the 5-way secret deal or the subsequent supportive actions by the Football Authorities.
philmacgiollabhain.ie/upper-tier-tribunal-result/#more-4832 … The result today is rather like appealing a death sentence after the execution has been carried out.
John Clark says:
July 9, 2014 at 6:08 pm
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Big Murray whitewash underway? I saw his statement included the admission that RFC went into admin and were liquidated. Case closed on that then.
His being duped line is still at odds with the CF documents relating to the work of Irvine and Whyte’s sanitised Google history.
The footballing misdemeanors have not gone away, but will any brave soul in the press catalogue them?
Victimhood Awaits
Once it sinks in that RFC died because of a misguided, malicious tax investigation (quod erat demonstrandum) there will be an outbreak of victim syndrome like no other. The names will be required of those responsible, plots will need to be laid bare and the unseen hand uncovered. What an exquisite panto lies ahead – and what a fabulous excuse for each and every failure of RIFC/TRFC to rebuild as a sane football club in the real world..
MCFC,
Hopefully not, but it fear you are correct and I fear that said victim complex will only set us even further back on a journey towards reconciliation in Scottish football, a journey which has a long way to go before it even begins! What all Rangers fans should recognise I believe is that while the UTT decision has been largely favourable, the EBT policy could at best be described as dishonest even though legal. I have already commented tonight on the fact that the BTC was a millstone around old co’s neck, but I think rangers fans do need to recognise that that millstone was placed there by Rangers themselves.
I personally don’t think the investigation was misguided or malicious. I think if you tread such a fine line between tax avoidance and evasion then HMRC are duty bound to investigate. If they had just paid taxes and registered players the way everyone else did then that is the only way to guarantee that none of this would have happened.
Rayangosling,
I’m with you there, I do think the HMRC made a backside of the FTT.
I’m phoning a tax expert tomorrow, I’m a wee guy and I’m sick paying taxes!
Other than that you’re spot on.
RyanGosling says:
July 9, 2014 at 6:40 pm
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MCFC,
Hopefully not, but it fear you are correct and I fear that said victim complex will only set us even further back on a journey towards reconciliation in Scottish football, a journey which has a long way to go before it even begins! What all Rangers fans should recognise I believe is that while the UTT decision has been largely favourable, the EBT policy could at best be described as dishonest even though legal. I have already commented tonight on the fact that the BTC was a millstone around old co’s neck, but I think rangers fans do need to recognise that that millstone was placed there by Rangers themselves.
I personally don’t think the investigation was misguided or malicious. I think if you tread such a fine line between tax avoidance and evasion then HMRC are duty bound to investigate. If they had just paid taxes and registered players the way everyone else did then that is the only way to guarantee that none of this would have happened.
————-
You expressed that very well Ryan. If only there were more stand-up fans like yourself willing to simply accept what happened and take the consequences on the chin.
The ability Murray has to maintain a distance from all of this is quite unreal.
RyanGosling says:
July 9, 2014 at 6:40 pm
==============================
Ryan – in the absence of an authoritative body to arbitrate a fair-minded account of what actually happened at each stage and how each stage contributed to the next – each “side” will chose it’s own facts, heroes and villains.The SFA could have been that arbiter but isn’t, likewise the MSM. Both are firmly part of the problem. It would probably take a South African-style Truth and Reconciliation process to ever create any common understanding now. In the meantime the debatee will be like a swimming pool – with most of the noise at the shallow end.
I remember a historian explaining that in places like Israel and Northern Ireland, opposing groups develop entirely different accounts of history over many years. these only touch at unavoidable big events in history – but with very different meaning attached to those events. This was in the context of a peace process and how you bring people together with a common view of the present and the possible future. It looks like this decision is one of those unavoidable big events. No-one has changed their opinions much – most will re-arrange the facts to confirm their existing views.
Union Of Fans Statement on Tax Case Result
“It is now clear from the result of the latest, failed HMRC tax case appeal that Rangers Football Club and its fans have been the victims of a witch-hunt by HMRC followed a systematic fraud by Craig Whyte and others which has done huge damage to a proud Scottish and British institution. This damage has been compounded by the leaking of confidential information relating to the case, dishonest reporting of that information and the malicious and cowardly acts of those in power in the Scottish football authorities.
The reasons for the pursuit of a phantom tax debt by HMRC, which it is now proven had no foundation, should be investigated at the highest levels of government. Why did HMRC continue with this spurious claim when they were offered settlement? HMRC must also now answer how Mark Daly at the BBC came to be in receipt of confidential tax documents? The person or people who illegally leaked these documents to Daly must be identified and prosecuted.
It also appears that Collyer Bristow have settled out of court, in relation to their part in the fraudulent purchase of the club by Craig Whyte. This vindicates the position of the fans over the past few years. We are aware that the police have been investigating the activities of Mr Whyte and Mr Gary Withey, amongst others, and we now call on all those responsible to be formally charged for their part in defrauding Rangers, its fans and shareholders.
It was made very clear at the time to the Scottish football authorities, and their legal advisers at Harper MacLeod, that the club was being punished for being the victim of a fraud, but various vested interests were determined to take advantage of the situation and do as much damage to the club as possible. In particular we will be examining the actions of Stewart Regan, Neil Doncaster, Stephen Thomson, Rod Petrie, Rod McKenzie and Peter Lawwell in the disgraceful treatment handed out to Rangers.
In the absence of any apparent appetite from the current board or owners of the club to hold various parties to account for the wrongs done to the Rangers, we will be liaising with OldCo shareholders and all other interested parties to see what civil action can be taken against HMRC and the SFA in particular.
We also expect BBC Scotland to explain why they produced such a one sided documentary, using illegally leaked information, which coloured public opinion and led to further damage to the club. We will be contacting the BBC Trust to take this up with them and it is our hope that Sir David Murray will also take action against those commentators and journalists who defamed the club and him personally. Several journalists, including Graham Spiers (the discredited journalist) and Alex Thomson, now have their reputations, such as they are, left in tatters due to their biased and inaccurate reporting on the failed HMRC case.
HMRCÂ’s baseless witch hunt kicked off a chain of events which has done huge damage to Rangers and which the club has done well to survive. Various parties have since taken advantage of that witch hunt to benefit personally or to further twist the knife due to their own bigotry and jealousy of our club. RangersÂ’ fans have suffered greatly over the past 4 years. We deserve answers on why this was done to our club, we deserve the most robust action possible to be taken against the perpetrators and we deserve every assistance in returning our club to its hard and honestly earned position as the pre-eminent club in Scottish football.”
____________________
posted on FF by CG
________________
we deserve the most robust action possible to be taken against the perpetrators and we deserve every assistance in returning our club to its hard and honestly earned position as the pre-eminent club in Scottish football. 🙂
It was called a Pyrrhic victory
Greek King Pyrrhus of Epirus, whose army suffered irreplaceable casualties in defeating the Romans at Heraclea in 280 BC and Asculum in 279 BC during the Pyrrhic War is reported to have said; “If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined.”
Sorry Pyrrhus old chap, but it’s now known as a Murraic victory.
RyanGosling says:
July 9, 2014 at 6:40 pm
==================
I doff my cap to you sir – all very well put. In the coming days, among the inevitable wailing and screaming from Chick Young and co about the unfairness of it all, the fact remains David Murray placed Rangers (and his other businesses) in a position where HMRC had every right to ask questions and pursue the case. My employer deducts a very hefty sum from my salary every month and passes it to HMRC. All Murray had to do was offer contracts on the basis Rangers would do the same. If that meant paying more money then that’s what he did, or reduced the contracts to players he could afford, and that’s the bottom line.
Scottish football needs more side letters!!
Broadswordcallingdannybhoy says:
July 9, 2014 at 7:31 pm
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Scottish football needs more side letters!!
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😀
upthehoops says:
July 9, 2014 at 7:16 pm
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Quite correct. And also the fact that when HMRC first made enquiries instead of handing all the papers requested by the tax people Murray and RFC obfuscated and delayed and delayed – and rumours of shredding machines going full blast started to circulate. This delay rather than opening the books and dealing with HMRC as soon as possible meant the tax bill mounted.
I know we have to accept this legally but my personal opinion – I think we’re allowed that on any case provided we’ve bothered to look at the evidence – is that if all the papers/records that should have been handed over were handed over there would have been a different outcome. Indeed it wouldn’t even have gone to a tribunal. I’m minded of Heidi Poon’s comments and also that the BTC guilty admissions were due to the side letters being available. The “not guilty” verdicts are surely all where no side letters were found. If they never existed why did they not let the tax people see everything? Why were payment details improperly stated in the player registrations with the SFA?
BTW I typed that of the top of my head so I may have a point or two a little confused but I’m sure if so someone will correct me. I think my general thrust is correct though.
SDM correct in that there has been some misinformed social media comment.
The massed ranks of PR and the MSM has made it their jobsworth that all people have been `misinformed`
andy says:
July 9, 2014 at 7:07 pm
“posted on FF by CG”
——————————————
Charles Green? 😀
RyanGosling
It certainly made it a harder sell I’ll give you that but Murray was being pushed to sell by a bank not willing to take the risk of its debt being unpaid because SDM put Rangers in a position of having to defend a tax scheme that HMRC had every right to think illegal.
They already knew it’s predecessor was – the DOS ebt arrangement that involved side letters concealed from HMRC, a scheme which they left in 2002/03 and had they at that time embarked on paying players in the same way that all their rivals were, rather than obtain the sporting advantage SDM himself said they were after by using loan ebts, then they would have been able to recover by cutting their cloth.
So for SDM to claim it’s all HMRC ‘ s fault when Rangers duplicity on the wee tax case emboldened HMRC to think they had a case for the other type of ebt based on loans is avoiding responsibility for his part in the causes of administration.
Rangers would not have gone into administration had they not been so secretive about the side letters. That is the ultimate irony of it all. On the BTC they had nothing to hide. On the wtc they did and they have.
The lesson from all this is that honesty is the best policy and the sooner that state of ethics is restored to our game the better.
Union Of Fans Statement on Tax Case Result
“It is now clear from the result of the latest, failed HMRC tax case appeal that Rangers Football Club and its fans have been the victims of a witch-hunt by HMRC followed a systematic fraud by Craig Whyte and others which has done huge damage to a proud Scottish and British institution.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Well if thats true
The real significance of the UTT verdict is the unjustice meted out to millions of workers by employers who failed to pay them through EBTs
Good summation Auldheid, wouldn’t argue with any of that. No doubt another factor in Lloyds forcing a sale was the complete mess Sir David Murray had made of the rest of his businesses.
Auldheid says:
July 9, 2014 at 8:09 pm
=========================
Karma……………. 😎
Confusing me that they are now a club again and not a company. 🙄
James Doleman says:
July 9, 2014 at 3:33 pm
10
1
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“I hear that the liquidator’s claim brought against Collyer Bristow has been settled as of yesterday”
Not saying it is untrue but “I hear” is the journalistic equivalent of “a guy in the pub told me.”
=====================================================================
James
I seriously doubt its settled yet and it would ruin my wee week in court in January. Was looking forward to seeing Kinsky perform. All that Charlotte stuff getting an airing too.
I know Collyers had their professional insurance restored after a recent case but their premiums will be wounding if they chuck 25million ~(not 24) at BDO over this one.
Interesting Intelligence with meticulous reasoning by LD.
Appeal on points of law dismissed with dutiful explanatory.
Clearly LD a person to restore order, discipline and, rigour.
There`s useful tips in there to assist HMRC to do their job properly [obviously they didn`t]
And, I believe, a slap on the wrists for the FTT to do their job properly [they didn`t either]
Thornhill comes out of this justified as effective with a disciplined well-presented brief.
MSM jumped the gun on rushing out headiness – FTT on the spot to correctly deliver
& – Competence of some FTT parties now in doubt
Reputations are now on the line
Ryan Gosling.
The man is a charlatan and his attempt to load blame on HMRC , which I see is already the narrative picked up by the Union of Fans, simply galls me.
He got away with an unsustainable model for years by hiding the consequences of his profligacy in MIH’s books and as you say the bank had had enough.
Now he has put his head above the parapet perhaps he will attract the truth. Plenty of journalists have the facts to put him right.
andy says:
July 9, 2014 at 7:07 pm
Rate This
Union Of Fans Statement on Tax Case Result
===============
I too would love to see a full, no holds barred completely independant investigation into this utter debacle. Maybe some people might not like what would be unearthed by such an investigation and it would certainly send some individuals running for the hills. Who could be trusted by all sides to carry out such an in depth investigation?
Just a quick question before the game….
Where does the appeal result leave HMRC? Do they have recourse to a further appeals process, and if so does permission need to be granted or criteria need to be met?
Murray cant help himself, by his appearance above his parapet so soon, HMRC may just think, naw, lets take this popsicle stand up a level, lets go round again at the big court!
Carfins Finest says:
July 9, 2014 at 8:41 pm
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andy says:
July 9, 2014 at 7:07 pm
Rate This
Union Of Fans Statement on Tax Case Result
===============
I too would love to see a full, no holds barred completely independant investigation into this utter debacle. Maybe some people might not like what would be unearthed by such an investigation and it would certainly send some individuals running for the hills. Who could be trusted by all sides to carry out such an in depth investigation?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This is not a ‘Rangers’ issue, after the wee tax case it was WAY more than that.
I stand 100% behind ANY body who demands a Public Inquiry into this whole affair.
The banks, the SFA, the SMSM, plus many individuals need to be held accountable for bringing our game to its knees.
twopanda says:
July 9, 2014 at 8:33 pm
… MSM jumped the gun on rushing out headiness – FTT on the spot to correctly deliver
& – Competence of some FTT parties now in doubt
Reputations are now on the line.
———–
I’m puzzled as to what exactly he has referred back to the FTT. More than loose ends?
andy says:
July 9, 2014 at 7:07 pm
Union Of Fans Statement on Tax Case Result
…
HMRCÂ’s baseless witch hunt kicked off a chain of events which has done huge damage to Rangers and which the club has done well to survive. Various parties have since taken advantage of that witch hunt to benefit personally or to further twist the knife due to their own bigotry and jealousy of our club…
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I have skim read the decision, but would have to re-read it several times over a day or two before I was comfortable about making any comment even here on TSFM.
That the UoF has issued a rather lengthy statement so quickly seems to indicate that there was some preparation to produce a certain ‘spin’ on their statement.
But it feels like we have travelled back in time to the original FTTT result – when the TRFC fans immediately reacted with threats and intimidation of journalists and Bampots, including RTC and Paul McConville too, IIRC.
Getting sick of that club now – nothing changes. 🙁
RyanGosling says:
July 9, 2014 at 5:58 pm
12 41 Rate This
Auldheid,
Business model aside it is inescapable that the conditions to have to sell for a penny included the looming big tax case, which has now been largely dismissed. That, plus apparently £24m being awarded to old co from collier Bristow, means that liquidation could certainly have been avoided in the short term if these decisions had been made immediately in 2011. There is no denying that a flawed business model was followed but it is also wrong I believe to play down these additional forces behind liquidation.
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I’m not sure I understand your point here Ryan. The “forces” you mention were presumably the actions of Whyte placing the company into huge debt with Ticketus by his shady dealings and the HMRC tax case brought against the club?
But surely that misses the point that both these forces are the direct result of Murray’s diabolical approach to running a business.
Murray was forced to sell to Whyte as a result of his own actions – no one elses.
HMRC brought the BTC against Rangers because they felt the scheme operated was outside the law. The fact it may have been just and no more within the letter of the law is irrelevant when apportioning blame – because the either way it was Murray who instigated this scheme and therefore brought created the sword-of-damocles situation that paralysed the club.
Thats not HMRCs fault IMO, it is David Murray’s fault, it is the fault of the Rangers board and therefore the fault of Rangers alone.
There were no outside forces setting Rangers on this path to ultimate destruction, only Rangers (internal) forces.
Don’t fall into the trap of falling for one iota of the spin.
StevieBC says:
July 9, 2014 at 9:08 pm
the original FTTT result – when the TRFC fans immediately reacted with threats and intimidation of journalists and Bampots, including RTC and Paul McConville too, IIRC.
Now the UTTT has sent it back to the FTTT.
If the (lets call it the second FTTT) has a different result, were does that leave TRFC fans who immediately reacted with threats and intimidation of journalists and Bampots, including RTC and Paul McConville too, IIRC.
Saying sorry 😛
Have to say, surprised though I am by the result, that I bet all this talk of selective revisionism, knee jerk revenge and a united front to show all their kickers who’s boss is terrible news for the owning consortium. Just terrible. And as others have said the responsibility for letting them in the door is in no way solely at HMRC’s door.
Aquinas says:
July 9, 2014 at 8:50 pm
Murray cant help himself, by his appearance above his parapet so soon, HMRC may just think, naw, lets take this popsicle stand up a level, lets go round again at the big court!
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Given the time, effort, expense and the clear belief they have a case, I’d be amazed if this does not go to the next stage of appeal, assuming that is possible.
Danish Pastry says:
July 9, 2014 at 9:07 pm
twopanda says:
July 9, 2014 at 8:33 pm
… MSM jumped the gun on rushing out headiness – FTT on the spot to correctly deliver
& – Competence of some FTT parties now in doubt
Reputations are now on the line.
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I’m puzzled as to what exactly he has referred back to the FTT. More than loose ends?
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Don’t know DP
Something compromised perhaps?
The DNA of types involved speaks for itself IMO
It needs, nay requires, straigtforward resolution sooner rather than later
Upthehoops check Phils blog, he’s tipping HMRC for the long haul.
Matty Roth,
Seems you may have misunderstood my comment. I responded to Auldheid initially as I felt that it was important to highlight that liquidation may not have occurred without the BTC, or at the very least the BTC helped to push in the direction of liquidation. I was not implying that the BTC was the responsibility of anyone other than Rangers’ officers, as I have detailed in subsequent posts.
RyanGosling says:
July 9, 2014 at 9:47 pm
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Matty Roth,
Seems you may have misunderstood my comment. I responded to Auldheid initially as I felt that it was important to highlight that liquidation may not have occurred without the BTC, or at the very least the BTC helped to push in the direction of liquidation. I was not implying that the BTC was the responsibility of anyone other than Rangers’ officers, as I have detailed in subsequent posts.
=======================
Indeed you have Ryan, if only I had read all the posts before responding to the first.
My apologies to you.
In truth I probably jumped in too soon because it irks me so that D Murray still seems to be able to manipulate the agenda and the media, the football authorities and many many fans don’t see what he has done.
If the SFA had done their job and given him a life ban from Scottish Football then perhaps the wool might start to be pulled from the eyes. Or maybe the victim mentality would have simply been stepped up to keep the focus on all the wrong things once more..
Good piece from @Scotzine
http://www.scotzine.com/2014/07/are-rangers-and-their-fans-really-the-victims-innocent-party/
How can they be `establishment `? – if abandoned to spiv mercy
Don`t get that
I am absolutely delighted by the result of the UTT. As a contractor I, and I am sure many of my colleagues, will be in touch with my accountants in the morning and arranging to have my weekly invoices paid into a trust fund with my wife as the trustee. I shall then further arrange to receive “loans” from this trust fund on a monthly basis. Thank you very much Lord Docherty, I shall raise a glass to your good health.
If it goes to the Court of Appeal, and the Court of Appeal rule against HMRC, my laymen’s understanding tells me that the law would then be that loans need not be repaid.
Can any TSFM Petrocelli’s confirm this?
#canofwormz?
Actually BCDB you raise a very valid point. Does the UTT ruling agree then that the payments made to the recipients of EBT’s were indeed loans (in every sense of the word). That being the case what are the repayment terms for these loans. Do the players involved now understand that they will be required at some point in the future to pony up and repay their loans. Good luck with that.
“Fans group threatens …”. Can’t believe it’s been given the front page. Bonkers.
https://mobile.twitter.com/Herald_Editor/status/486999763347574784/photo/1
Danish Pastry says:
July 9, 2014 at 11:43 pm
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“Fans group threatens …”. Can’t believe it’s been given the front page. Bonkers.
https://mobile.twitter.com/Herald_Editor/status/486999763347574784/photo/1
==============================================================
Premature. This ones got another 3 to 4 years worth of lawyer fees in it. May even end up in Europe.
I’m just an ordinary Joe so have no real interpretative powers when it comes to the legality of tax efficient planning. I do know that on the face of it the Big Tax Case EBT’s looked like payment from my perspective. I think they must have looked like payments from Ranger’s perspective as well since they decided not to register side letters with the SFA as part of the players remuneration details. In retrospect they possibly could have but at the time they weren’t sure.
Not only were Rangers not sure but a number of potential purchasers of the club weren’t sure either. These potential purchasers and investors would have found it in their interest to investigate the possible outcomes. However the purchase prices being touted suggest that the risk of the BTC crystalising as a debt was a viable possibility.
The FTT wasn’t sure either. There was a well informed dissenting opinion that provided leeway to be given to HMRC for an appeal. This latest news suggests that the FTT decision will stand and that the BTC EBT’s were not illegal. That means that any club could have taken advantage of such a scheme. Only one did and Celtic overturned their EBT payment on the single player concerned and paid the tax; just in case.
So it looks like the BTC EBT’s are legal. However this is not the reason Rangers went into administration. HMRC put Rangers into administration because they withheld PAYE and NI. If the risk of the BTC was not looming so large then Rangers might have emerged from administration under new ownership.
To be glib, David Murray didn’t manage the risk. He employed a risky tax strategy at a time when his clubs finances were not looking too robust. Other clubs in similar positions decided not to pursue this strategy. Rangers were liquidated, the other clubs were not. I’m not sure that blaming HMRC is going to get anybody anywhere unless you are trying to resurrect David Murray’s reputation. He was an experienced businessman and should not have been naive about the consequences of his decision.
ianagain says:
July 9, 2014 at 11:53 pm
1 0 Rate This
… Premature. This ones got another 3 to 4 years worth of lawyer fees in it. May even end up in Europe.
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You really think Europe? Would they rule on the legality of tax-free, non-repayable loans in a member country?
Danish Pastry says:
July 9, 2014 at 10:19 pm
“Good piece from @Scotzine”
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Brave man. Could have been written by a TSFM’r. It would be nice to think he is sailing with a prevailing wind.
Despite the disappointment of the UTT decision I think there are a few positives to be taken. None of us are tax experts but the general gut feeling was that the payments were dodgy. The fact that it has been found to be the contrary likely says more about the tax and legal system than it does about our gut feelings.
The remarkable outcome of the UTT proceedings is that, lead by John Clark, a procession of ordinary folk took their seats in that stuffy court room over the two week course of proceedings. Proceedings that would normally be conducted out of the public glare and largely unconcerned about public opinion. These proceedings and court are of course paid for from general taxation largely and in some ways it was symbolic that a section of the public tried to reclaim this territory.
Castofthousands says:
July 10, 2014 at 12:02 am
‘…..I think they must have looked like payments from Ranger’s perspective as well since they decided not to register side letters with the SFA as part of the players remuneration details. ‘
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CoT, there is no question but that SDM/RFC believed they were at the madam.And there is a delicious irony in the fact that , according to the UTTT, they were not in breach of tax legislation.Had they played a straight bat as honest brokers, they need not have killed their club by selling it for £1.00 to a third rate chancer.
But they KNEW in their minds and hearts that they WERE at the madam, feared that the game was up,and chickened out.
The sole and entire blame for the death of RFC lies at the door of SDM. And Media attempts to exculpate him are just nonsense.
But that’s an internal matter for the blogs of and supporters of the new club.
Our concern is quite, quite different. It matters not what the tax legislation says: SDM/RFC were guilty of
serious cheating under the Rules of the SFA and SPL over many years. Cheating that ought to have been spotted by the Administrators who are so good as to be able to spot the absence of a signature on a routine form, but appear not to know about the practice of a club in routinely not disclosing all payments made to its players even though the best administrator in the world had ,while employed by that club, personally benefited from that practice.
The rottenness was there. Is still there. And is still to be rooted out.
http://www.thefootballlife.co.uk/post/91274795751/tier-drop-to-tear-drop-rangers-the-utt-the-ftt
An HMRC spokesman said: “We are disappointed with today’s decision and considering an appeal.”
Aquinas says:
July 9, 2014 at 9:38 pm
Upthehoops check Phils blog, he’s tipping HMRC for the long haul.
=========================
I read it earlier. I also saw a statement (in the Scotsman) where HMRC are considering an appeal. What is the next appeal stage – the House of Lords?
Craig Whyte told many untruths during his time at Ibrox, but his statement that HMRC will appeal, appeal, and appeal again appears to ring true, and I guess that is the feedback he got from them.
I am no lawyer, let alone have knowledge of tax affairs other than to hand over a very significant sum every month. Therefore I will respect the decision given yesterday albeit remaining baffled that a tax free loan that will never be paid back is above board. The law is very much an ass at times, even if technically correct.
What irks me more than anything is, as another poster earlier pointed out, that David Murray is still very much in control of the agenda in how this is being reported. That is despite the established facts about him concealing side letters and offering to settle out of court. That the media are even giving column inches to the deranged, paranoid nonsense from the union of fans also tells us much.
And last but not least, the current incumbents at Ibrox work away steadily pursuing their goals under the cover of darkness this has provided to them. Nothing better than to look down to see the hordes departing the gates with their torches and pitchforks to chase a conspiracy that is as real as the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
And the moral of the story is; good things come to those who pay their taxes.
John Clark says:
July 10, 2014 at 1:21 am
29 1 Rate This
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Bravo John. The heart of the matter.
I wonder if Mr Ogilvie himself is now feeling a certain remorse for not insisting on everything being above board from the off.
As you say, they knew they were at it. That it has now been ruled they weren’t, on the BTC at least, is almost tragi-comic. Condemned by their own guilty conscience.
Funny how the fines and guilty judgements about actual wrongdoing have been forgotten. Twitter is awash with apology demands.
The WTC, the “second only to match fixing” ruling, and Craig Whyte’s £1 suspicious takeover are hard to forget, though.
Well,well,well If only Sir David Murray had the courage of his convictions and openly declared all his companies tax dealings to HMRC and the SFA ( still they really knew anyway) , the Rangers would now be bidding for Ozil.
Seems to me the latest legal Scottish male official is stating that the previous Scottish male legal types only have to state the evidence / facts to support their decision rather than consider all the stuff which HMRC consider was ignored.
Real loans = real repayments , after all the Jersey lot where supposed to have checked that the loan recipients had the wherewithal to re-pay , question for Eck, Barry, Alex Rae, etc
Did Billy Dodds not say that his EBT was a termination Payment?
IMHO HMRC have the backing of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to pursue this and other tax avoidance/evasion schemes to it’s logical course.
They want there day in court and this would have been factored into the strategy.
All the main players will have to be witnesses in a court of law, and I don’t think the ex-players and managers will be too keen to air their dirty laundry in public.
We all know the law is an erse sometimes, but it is there for a purpose.
Clever people always find ways to circumnavigate the system for their own ends.
I always say ” play the system, don’t let the system play you”
If I was a one of The Rangers (or Rangers as they used to be called) fans; I would not be barking at the moon, looking for civil actions against “supposed enemies and The Rangers hating brigade”, but looking closer to home.
This doesn’t stop the basket case business model of a club plying its trade in the 2nd level of the Scottish Leagues, draining money, nor stop the inevitbalilty of another “insolvency event” happening.
What this does is make the Government authorities more determined to get the right result “morally”, which the law was never intended to cover when first passed.
I have some sympathy for decent The Rangers fans who do nothing in respect to the club they are supporting,because of the vitriol, bile and threats that come there way
What do they say:
“Evil prevails when good men do nothing”
Whether they think it is worth all of that is moot 😥
@Mayanman
Did a wee search and it was discussed on the @Auldheid blog, ‘A Question of Trust’, and no doubt many other places.
twopanda says:
July 9, 2014 at 10:44 pm
How can they be `establishment `? – if abandoned to spiv mercy
Don`t get that
===============================================
It’s a habit of mind. They are so used to supporting the ‘establishment club’ that they still do so even when all there is is a hollow shell painted to look like the thing they think they are backing.
Upthehoops
On the SDM narrative: copied from CQN.
Rangers began using ebts in 1999 with a payment to Craig Moore with an ebt using a Discounted Option Scheme. There was no side letter for Moore. That it was an ebt can be discerned by the term LNS later gave it ie “Rangers Employee Benefit Trust.”
In Aug 2000 Ronnie De Boer was paid using the same ebt scheme as part of his remuneration package with side letters.
Flo was next in Nov 2000.
This DOS was also used by Aberdeen Asset Management and HMRC decided it was an illegal scheme and pursued the company for payment of the tax due.
AAM appealed to an FTT and UTT against the payment but they both found for HMRC.
Following their FTT victory over AAM HMRC , armed with the fact that it was an illegal scheme pursued Rangers for payment in Nov 2010.
Then in Feb 2011 armed with the fact Rangers used side letters that were concealed from HMRC (and SFA/SPL) they pursued Rangers for payment of the tax due. On QC advice, where the concealment was the deciding factor, Rangers agreed to settle.
This is the genesis of the wee tax case that itself gave rise to Res12.
Sometime in 2002 ( I have to check the document) Rangers migrated from the unlawful ebt to the one the UTT found to be lawful because payments under it were deemed loans not pay. De Boer was moved from the DOS ebt to the loan ebt in 2002. Again from memory he was paid by DOS in first half of season 2002/03 and loan in the second half of that season in which Rangers narrowly won the title.
Lord Nimmo Smith was led to and allowed to conflate both lawful ( the loans) and unlawful (DOS) this rendering the DOS payments to De Boer and Flo lawful when they are not.
This is the story the documentation tells, documentation that was witheld from LNS.
The wee tax case story is being omitted because it simply does not fit the narrative that SDM is trying to spin. A narrative being widely reported in national media in spite of some of them having the story on the wee tax case.
It was the wee tax case that emboldened HMRC to pursue settlement on the BTC. They appear to have focused on the contractual element of the ebt ( ie the side letters which means it’s not an ebt) and not on the vehicle for putting the money in the players pocket.
Indeed Lord Doherty makes reference to the AAM case in his decision to spell out the difference.
HMRC ‘ S mission should they wish to pursue it is to have loans defined and see if the later ebts fall into that definition that stops the loan being pay.
Where does this take us?
De Boer and Flo were paid by unlawful means in a scheme that was without doubt tax evasion.
This is much more serious than misadministration. That and the migration to loan ebts where side letters continued to be concealed, is indicative of Rangers intent from the beginning and influenced HMRC to go after them.
There has been no football punishment for the use of unlawful ebts from 2000 to 2003.
Their 2003 title was unlawfully won.
The LNS Commission was misled by Rangers and paints a picture of only serious administrative error rather than the whole truth which is Rangers moved from illegal ebts to legal ones.
I doubt the latter will ever be corrected except on blogs but they are the only means of getting the truth out there.
PS Res12 is unaffected by the foregoing. The SFA ( as the SPL in the LNS case) still have questions to answer and those answers conveyed back to Celtic shareholders.
An overriding question that the MSM and TRFC/RFC fans should be asking is if the RFC tax arrangements were right and moral why should anyone pay tax?
Let’s all have EBTs. Loans that have no tax and never need to be repaid.
What happens to society then? What social unrest, Mr Regan, would follow if all of the public services stopped providing? Hospitals, schools, social benefits, etc. What happens to our armed forces, so valued by TRFC/RFC et al, when the money dries up?
I guess the only good thing would be the end of Wonga and those other pay-day loan leeches.
Scottish Football needs to finally ask some serious questions of those responsible for the actions taken to prop up the vainglorious attitudes of one football club, it’s directors and fans. And that includes the current President of the SFA.
Six of the Best
Let’s remember that HMRC have no interest in Rangers as such. They were just looking for a test case to rule EBT loans taxable in the UK football industry.
However, it would seem that Rangers stepped forward to volunteer for the role of suspect through the scale and bombast of their scheme – not to mention the interesting, high profile, piss-taking advisor they chose. (WATP mistake 1).
They then chose to obstruct HMRC at every turn over several years – to the extent that English police were called upon to raid Ibrox to recover documents. (WATP mistake 2).
They then offered a derisory settlement in relation to the matter at hand and their obvious contempt for HMRC. The forgot that HMRC operatves have pride and managers and careers to think about. The Rangers chose to make it personal. (WATP mistake 3).
They then failed to understand the HMRC process, its duration, its cost and its complexity. And of course, the distraction from running a football club. (WATP mistake 4).
And most of all, they failed to understand that this was never about Rangers, but about a test case that HMRC would pursue to the ends of the earth.. Without WATP, they could have given HMRC their desired result quickly and done a good deal in the interests of protecting their football club. HMRC would have recovered much more from other clubs, so Rangers was never the big issue. (WATP mistake 5)
And finally, they forgot they were innocent. Shredding, delaying, obfuscating and delaying more are not the actions of an innocent organization poorly advised or caught unwittingly in a grey area of tax law (WATP mistake 6).
So David Murray should remember that it took six very serious mistakes by him and him alone to kill Rangers football club – with zero help from any conspiracy or malign forces.
Congratulations on your win David