ian1964 10,513 Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 THE Scottish Sun today reveals details of the controversial player payments made by Rangers â?? which have dragged the club to the brink of extinction. Fans want talks over cash gifts A bombshell letter sent to one former ace â?? who joined the club in the mid-2000s â?? tells him that on top of his salary he is entitled to a £122,000 payment spread out over two years, plus additional four-figure appearance bonuses. It is believed these payments may fall under an Employee Benefit Trusts scheme which is likely to have sparked Her Majesty Revenue and Customs' £75million tax battle with the SPL giants. EBTs are NOT illegal and are usually used for pensions, charities and families. But last night three experts told The Scottish Sun the letter to the player â?? who we are not naming â?? may have broken strict financial rules by not paying revenue on what is effectively wages. It is in draft form but shows the nature of the arrangements. Last night a financial advisor told us: "If a client showed the letter to me, I would tell them to rip it up. The killer points are one and two. "Number one, you are going to get £122,000 and number two you get £1,200 for a first-team game. "It equates to salary as far as I am concerned. I would say this sort of letter will be a central thread in the big tax case. "This would be manna from heaven for HMRC if they have this. If there are 10 like these and there are matching payments, I'd find it difficult for the courts to do anything other than find in favour of HMRC." Meanwhile a jobs lawyer also warned that the bonuses offered look "a hell of a lot like employment". He said: "What we have here is a fairly basic contract between Rangers and a player â?? it is not very different from ones I have seen in the past for other clubs. "What makes it very different is this letter appears to introduce all sorts of other provisions. "What I understand is Rangers are trying to say there was money paid to the people, but it was not wages â?? it was something else. "If you look at the back letter it says you will get this money for each competitive first-team match for which you're selected. "It seems they are getting paid for the job Rangers employ them to do so the likelihood is that that is employment income." An accountant who we showed the letter to also hinted the payments offered to the player were "illegal". He added: "This appears to be a contractual obligation to put money into an Employee Benefit Trust. The implication is that there is a pot of money going to an individual. "I have been shown a contract of employment showing how much money players were going to get but also a back letter which I presume that individual has assumed is part of his salary. It seems like a contract. "If the two documents are handed to someone together, is that seen as being his overall package? If the answer to that is yes then there is a problem because the money that goes into the trust really should be getting taxed because it is his salary. "The fact it is there as a back letter at all suggests it is dodgy." During Gers' big spending days top players like Arthur Numan and Ronald De Boer starred for the club â?? but it's not known if they were offered EBT deals. It's been reported that a total of £47million was contributed by Gers to the EBT fund. At its height in 2005/06, the club gave out £9.2million â?? and used EBTs right up until the HMRC probe kicked off over a year ago. HMRC have tried to call in a bill for the payments. Rangers contested the tax tab and when Motherwell tycoon Craig Whyte took over the club from Sir David Murray last May he insisted he was confident of beating it. The case has been heard in Edinburgh and a result is understood to be due at the end of next month â?? with many predicting a bloody nose for the Light Blues. Letters like the one we've seen are likely to have been used as evidence. Administrator Duff and Phelps is trying to save Rangers but it's feared a massive tax bill could tip them into insolvency Read more: http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scot...#ixzz1nRTbVovD 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GovanAllan 0 Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 Dear oh dear is this the best this shower can do they've been behind everybody else on this whole fiasco and no one has actually seen one of these letters signed sealed and delivered. Terrible piece of journalism from a terrible paper. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny 0 Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 Dear oh dear is this the best this shower can do they've been behind everybody else on this whole fiasco and no one has actually seen one of these letters signed sealed and delivered. Terrible piece of journalism from a terrible paper. Who now have Paul McBride writing for them. Yes, really. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest carter001 Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 Even if it were genuine, HMRC would need every letter given to every player relating to every contract to get the reported £49m. If they only have 1 letter then they can only prove that 1 instance thus, the bill will be smaller. Remember, it is not all or nothing with this tax case. HMRC have to prove each case. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete 2,499 Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 I read or heard that same story about a week or more ago. It is certainly not new news. Again it is filled with believed and maybe. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueMazza 0 Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 What a load of shite. The key to the shitness of it is they've seen a "draft". No signatures then there is nothing to see here, move along 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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