The liquidation of Rangers is about to be completed with a staggering £56m owed to HMRC through three specific areas.
Over £41m was owed on the disguised remuneration scheme dubbed EBT’s by Dave Murray who used that set up to reward himself as well as attracting players that Rangers couldn’t afford.
A specific bill of £4m is owed to HMRC for Tore Andre Flo and Ronald de Boer who were signed in the second half of 2000 by Dick Advocaat, a season that saw Celtic win their first treble in 32 years.
The third element came after Ally McCoist’s side crashed out of Europe to Malmo and Maribor in August 2011, HMRC was denied £10m to fulfil the fixtures through until the end of the season.
The latest report from liquidators BDO reveals:
As previously reported, and in relation to HMRC’s prior claim of £64.514m, the Joint Liquidators, along with colleagues from BDO’s Tax Dispute Resolution team and our legal advisors, carried out extensive and collaborative discussions with HMRC to reach a negotiated resolution in relation to certain remaining elements of the claim.
7 June 2024 A composite settlement of £56m was agreed with HMRC, which reflected the outcome of the Supreme Court decision in 2017, and can be summarised as follows:
EBT/ IHT £ 41,648,000
Small tax claims £4,079,000
Craig Whyte era £10,273,000
TOTAL £56,000,000
Whilst the broad terms of the settlement were agreed in advance, the formal Settlement Agreement was only executed in July 2023, shortly after which an equalising dividend was paid (given that the Joint Liquidators had previously only provided for the balance of HMRC’s claim over and above the admitted elements of its claim). Along with all other creditors, referred to below, a third and final dividend has now been paid to HMRC on its settled claim of £56m.
It is a shameful figure with 275 other creditors ranging from a face painter to Police Scotland missing out on payments in order to put 11 men on a football pitch capable of challenging Celtic for honours.
For every £1 owed by Rangers creditors have been paid a total of 14.43 pence over a period of 12 years meaning that HMRC have lost out on £47.9m. Money that would have been spent on every area of life across the UK from schools and nurseries through to hospitals and the Armed Forces.
Operating in the same manner as other clubs, paying full Income Tax and National Insurance every month, the Tribute Act formed by Charles Green has won three domestic trophies in 12 seasons.
While the SFA and SPFL crack down on clubs that make a registration mistake by docking points or expelling them from cup competitions, Rangers were fined £250,000 for over a decade of fielding ineligible players.
Every competition between 2000/2001 and 2011/12 was impacted, clubs lost out of trophies, prize money and lucrative European appearances, players were denied bonus payments and medals.
Motherwell, St Mirren, Falkirk, Queen of the South and Celtic lost cup finals to a team fielding ineligible players but clubs in every round were cheated out of a chance to progress.
The SFA did ban Craig Whyte from a future involvement in any club but Dave Murray received no sanction for his involvement.
Campbell Ogilivie signed off on the Trust payments to Flo and de Boer then went on to serve as President of the SFA after years sitting in on committees.
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Hi @magnusllewellin
Remember that big exclusive about HMRC getting its sums wrong?
The inference that Rangers could have settled their tax bill and might still be alive today? https://t.co/ArQ7neWvNK— Rangers Tax-Case (@rangerstaxcase) December 8, 2022
