Tax dispute won't kill Rangers FC

An HM Revenue & Customs enquiry will not send Rangers FC out of business, the club has said.

Speculation of the club's demise mounted over the weekend after a press conference on Friday. Alastair Johnson, Rangers FC chairman, nodded in agreement when asked if it was possible the club could go out of business if a decision over tax payments went against it, The Financial Times reports.

However, a statement from the club the same day said the chairman did not suggest the club would collapse and it was contesting the HMRC challenge.

"We would refer interested parties to the section in the interim results (paragraph 7) that covers the current position with the HMRC enquiry and importantly to the fact that the club continues to vigorously contest HMRC's challenge and in doing so continues to receive reassuring opinion from tax, accounting and legal specialists."

The tax enquiry is over player contributions between 1999 and 2003. The club created an employee benefits trust to pay players which the taxman believes did not pay full tax.

Johnson, in Rangers' Half yearly report, said: "I would emphasise that no allegations have been made to suggest any illegal activity, and tax vehicles of this type have been used by a number of companies throughout the country.

"We continue to vigorously contest HMRC's challenge on the taxation treatment of the Trust and in doing so continue to receive reassuring opinion from tax, accounting and legal specialists."