Breaking news... Rangers won the Big Tax Case.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotlan...-west-20414804
The former Rangers Football Club has won an appeal against a tax bill over its use of Employee Benefit Trusts.
The club, which is now in liquidation, used the scheme from 2001 to 2010 to make £47.65m in payments to players and staff in the form of tax-free loans.
HM Revenue and Customs had challenged the payments, arguing that they were illegal.
Rangers disputed the bill and a First Tier Tax Tribunal (FTT) has ruled the payments were loans that can be repaid.
In its ruling, which two judges endorsed, with one dissenting, the FTT concluded: "This was a lengthy appeal, heard over 29 days and set down over an extended period.
"The majority view reflects the argument that the controversial monies received by the employees were not paid to them as their absolute entitlement.
"The legal effect of the trust/loan structure is sufficient to preclude this. Thus the payments are loans, not earnings, and so are recoverable from the employee or his estate.
"The dissenting opinion adopts the approach set down by the decision of the House of Lords in Ramsay in 1981.
"By giving regard to the intentions of the parties entering the arrangements, and in the absence of commercial reality for the loan structure, the monies received by the employees via the trust constitute earnings for income tax purposes.
"At the request of parties, the tribunal agreed to anonymise the published form of the decision."
Old Rangers was under the control of Sir David Murray when it began using EBTs.
He sold the club for £1 to Scottish businessman Craig Whyte in 2011, while the tax liability was in dispute.
The FTT, before a judge, concluded in February, the same month as the old Rangers, now under the control of Mr Whyte, was forced into administration by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) over non-payment of tax totalling about £14m.
HMRC subsequently rejected proposals for a creditors agreement that would have allowed the old club to continue.
Administrators Duff and Phelps then negotiated a sale of assets to a consortium led by Charles Green for £5.5m.
He has since formed a new club, now playing in the Scottish Football League Third Division.
So Rangers did nothing wrong... forget stripping league titles and honours.
