Keith Jackson: Fan rage over Rangers EBTs is understandable...

[ian1964 10,416]

...but now is not the time for the SPFL to go nuclear.

 

KEITH looks at the latest twist in the tax saga and asks if Rangers have actually breached Scottish Professional Football League rules.

 

EMPLOYEE Benefit Trusts. The three little words which have already scarred Scottish football for life and which might yet bring our game back to the brink of implosion.

 

The hounds of hell were re-released last week when Hector scored a win at the Court of Session, a ruling which has all the makings of potential game changer in this long running narrative about Rangers and the taxman.

 

Suddenly, overnight, there is a genuine case for those who wish to see the Ibrox club stripped of all manner of silverware which was secured during a nine year period of financial jiggery pokery and slight of hand. Last week’s twist added legal substance to their argument.

 

In their eyes, it has now been established that Sir David Murray was cheating HMRC throughout that period and so, by extension, Rangers were cheating all of their opponents by signing players who might otherwise have been lured elsewhere. Case closed.

 

The great outpouring of anger and resentment which has followed is almost palpable. In many ways it’s also perfectly understandable.

 

It is building, after all, among fans who were shelling out to pay into grounds while, more often than not, watching their respective teams come up short. They believe this scheme gave Rangers a sporting advantage and, yes, it is difficult to arrive at any other conclusion even if some of the names on that huge list of EBT recipients include the likes of Nuno Capucho and Tero Penttila.

 

Because the truth of the matter is for every Bert Konterman there was also a Mikel Arteta or a Ronald de Boer.

 

It is no wonder then that fans of others clubs, and most notably Celtic’s, are screaming for some form of retrospective justice. It’s perfectly natural in fact and if last week’s ruling is accepted by all parties as the final decision then there should, at the very least, be a grown-up conversation about what should be done. If anything at all.

 

For starters, how does Scottish football feel about the use of tax avoidance schemes in general and are or have other schemes been exploited by players or executives at other Scottish clubs?

 

Morally, the entire issue of the super rich and their tax dodging scams stinks the place out. We have potholes in out roads, patients dying on waiting trollies in our hospitals and schools which can hardly afford textbooks for their pupils.

 

Of course these taxes should be paid.

 

But are Rangers to be punished purely because the scheme they used wasn’t as sound as those of their rivals?

 

Or will those running our game see this as an opportunity to right new rules and apply them across the board?

 

Rangers, of course, might not want to be involved in any such conversations.

 

What is certain is that Dave King’s regime would be likely to go full nuclear if any attempted grab was made on their trophy room. King and his men will be incensed at the notion of it but there seems little to be gained from these two sides squaring up to one another or playing to their foaming mouthed galleries.

 

In any case, there is no need for war to be declared. Not yet at any rate.

 

Granted, the last time so many were so aroused at the thought of a stripping was when Jennifer Aniston did a deal with Playboy but, amidst the hysteria, some major complexities have been completely overlooked.

 

Perhaps, for example, Rangers might be asking some internal questions of their own and wondering why the club paid Murray International a fee in the region of £500,000 per year for tax advice over that nine year period between 2001 and 1010. In retrospect, that was the most expensive £4.5m they might ever have blown.

 

The big question is, should it now cost them their cups into the bargain?

 

But before it can be answered, here’s another one. And it might just take the sting out of the whole explosive issue. Is there even a mechanism to make this happen?

 

As things stand, it is unclear if there has been a breach of the rulebook which would allow the SPFL to take any kind of action at all.

 

For example, last season Livingston were deducted five points for not paying tax. But they were snared on a rule which only came into being after the financial meltdown at Ibrox. In other words, it did not exist during the EBT years and so Rangers cannot be punished for breaching a rule which did not exist at the time.

 

When Lord Nimmo Smith was dragged into this debacle he was tasked with judging on the non-declaration of side letters relating to the EBT scheme. He found Rangers guilty and fined them accordingly.

 

He also stated that no sporting advantage was gained by the club although his entire reasoning was made on the assumption that the use of EBTs was a perfectly legitimate form of tax avoidance.

 

That, of course, is now in serious doubt. Again this is a potential game changer.

 

But it only comes into play if BDO do not appeal against last week’s decision and take the matter to the Supreme Court. And, with so much at stake for their creditors, that seems highly unlikely. HMRC, being heavily conflicted, could be excluded from any vote and rendered unable to block it.

 

Also, there are certain details of huge significance which remain unclear from last week’s ruling and they may also determine BDO’s next move.

 

For starters, there has been no clarity given as to the current status and estimated size of the full EBT bill. At the outset of this process that total sat at around the £50m mark but before last week’s ruling it had been scaled down to a far more manageable number. In fact, BDO went into that hearing believing a defeat was likely to carry a liability of between £5m and £10m.

 

What remains unclear is whether or not this latest decision supersedes and unwinds the previous judgments which whittled the original figure down. Or if the greatly reduced number still stands.

 

This could be a key issue for BDO in determining whether or not to settle up now or to carry on the fight to the final court of appeal.

 

They have already recouped more than £26m for the creditors’ pot. With more lawsuits in the pipeline it is entirely possible that, at a conservative estimate, that figure could double in size. In that context, a £5m settlement with the taxman might seem affordable. A £50m loss, on the other hand, wipes them clean out.

 

All of this will have to be cleared up before any decision on punishing Rangers can be made by those in charge of running the game.

 

Already there are rumours circulating of a number of clubs who are determined to seek retribution. They are being championed online almost as some sort of cabal, pushing SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster into pressing the button.

 

But the truth of the matter is, for now at least and probably for some considerable time to come, there is nowhere for the league to run with this matter.

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/keith-jackson-fan-rage-over-6794653

[der Berliner 3,247]

First, why does Jackson not say who these clubs are?

 

Second, why does Jackson not ask whether these clubs - or anyone else concerned, for that matter - were neck-deep in writing apologies to us and OldCo people afte we WON the first two verdicts?

 

Third ... the sooner an appeal is launched the better. You would hope people are in contact with BDO about covering any costs.

 

NB: The first two questions are not against Jackson, but the lack of journalism shown.

Edited November 9, 2015 by der Berliner

[JTP 0]

"For starters, how does Scottish football feel about the use of tax avoidance schemes in general and are or have other schemes been exploited by players or executives at other Scottish clubs?"

 

 

Why not just say, what about all the Sellik staff's film producing tax schemes .........

[der Berliner 3,247]

"For starters, how does Scottish football feel about the use of tax avoidance schemes in general and are or have other schemes been exploited by players or executives at other Scottish clubs?"

 

 

Why not just say, what about all the Sellik staff's film producing tax schemes .........

 

But you can't, as a Scottish journalist, use the name Celtic unless it is dead certain and not "conjecture, hearsay, 100% proven" ... or you will face the wrath of the Green monster and its lawyers.

[Oleg_Mcnoleg 50]

"For starters, how does Scottish football feel about the use of tax avoidance schemes in general and are or have other schemes been exploited by players or executives at other Scottish clubs?"

 

 

Why not just say, what about all the Sellik staff's film producing tax schemes .........

 

Quite. And the film company wheeze was actually designed to attract a public subsidy: can we have some words from Phil 3Braincells about the morality of Lennon and company using an investment vehicle actually explicitly designed to steal public money? All this sanctimoniousness about a tax management strategy that we, like dozens of other clubs and businesses, believed to be legal and we were perfectly open about is enough to make you boak. We were expensively advised that we were operating within the law. It was devious and crass but if we're going to start moralising about morally dubious business practice, we've got plenty of better candidates.

Edited November 9, 2015 by Oleg_Mcnoleg

[JTP 0]

But you can't, as a Scottish journalist, use the name Celtic unless it is dead certain and not "conjecture, hearsay, 100% proven" ... or you will face the wrath of the Green monster and its lawyers.

 

It's Facts. Pretty sure half of them came out greeting because they lost their money in them ............

[Bruno55 0]

Thought big tommo and wee stuarty put them in their place on sportscene last night

[Bluedell 5,329]

It's not cheating.

 

How can not be cheating if it was OK 2 weeks ago? How can it be cheating when legal experts are saying what we did was OK?

 

If it's therefore not cheating, can we just put the issue to bed and stop stoking up the bitterness that exists throughout Scottish football?

[ian1964 10,416]

If the cabal that is the SFA & the rest of the Scottish clubs put as much time and effort into fixing all that is wrong with Scottish football, instead of the bigotted witch hunt against Rangers FC, and actually concentrated on football issues then all of Scottish football would maybe start moving forward!.

[aweebluesoandso 290]

If they do come after our titles they better be prepared for one almighty scrap, The Bears are in the mood for a fight, we'll pull the whole fecking structure down around their heads. Armageddon will look look a Disney theme park compared to what's left after this.