Rangers confident of winning tax tribunal

THE OWNER OF Rangers FC has said he is confident the club will not have to pay any compensation in its upcoming court case regarding the use of Employee Benefit Trusts (EBTs).

Estimates on the total liability Rangers faces goes up to £60m. HM Revenue & Customs claims to be owed £24m in unpaid PAYE due to the club using EBTs, which provide employees with non-repayable interest free loans and were the target of the disguissed remuneration legislation in this year’s Finance Bill.

Craig Whyte, who has recently purchased the club, told Rangers TV that he is confident Rangers will win the case.

“At this moment, there is no liability to HMRC,” Whyte said. “There is a tax tribunal which has been going on for some time.

“Our advice is that we are going to win the case. I’m confident we are going to win the case and that there will be no liability there. That’s not going to be determined for a while yet but I’m very confident that we are going to win the case. It’s something we got into in quite a lot of detail. I’ve spoken to the legal counsel dealing with the case. He’s very confident that we are going to win the case.”