Now official: HMRC appeal dismissed

[TheWee BlueDevil 0]

The moron Spiers just can't take it and is still in denial. What a pathetic excuse for a human being he really is.

 

Time for retribution surely, time to go after the haters and make them answer for their actions/words during the relentless anti-Rangers witch-hunt. Step up Scottish MSM / BBC Scotland.....

 

Oh wait..........

Edited July 9, 2014 by TheWee BlueDevil
Forgot about the Biased Broadcasting Corporation

[chilledbear 16]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28239070?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

 

The events that led to the financial collapse of Rangers Football Club plc cannot be undone, but they are still under challenge.

The decision of the High Court judge Lord Doherty to dismiss Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs' appeal against the verdict of what became widely known as the "Big Tax Case" is important in terms of perception, but also of grievance.

The use of Employee Benefit Trusts by Murray International Holdings was a means to reduce tax liabilities.

It could be argued that the inherent riskiness of the scheme - which was used by Rangers, as the club was part of MIH at the time, but also several other football teams in England - meant that the group might have had cause to set aside funds in case of future challenges by the authorities.

Nonetheless, riskiness alone is not a reason for prosecution. The potential liability of the big tax case - £24m before any additional interest and penalties - was a burden to Rangers, because it put off potential buyers of the club and it influenced wider opinion.

The latter is a particular cause of anger amongst the Rangers fans, who feel the club was vilified.

Some potential buyers wanted to take control of Rangers as long as MIH retained liability for any potential tax bill, but no agreement could be reached. This, in turn, eventually left the opening for Craig Whyte to appear on the scene and buy the majority shareholding from Sir David Murray for £1.

A chain of events ensued, but the potential liability of the tax case remained a central issue.

HMRC could yet appeal the Upper Tier Tribunal decision of Lord Doherty, and the revenue intend to take time to digest the judgement in full before deciding how to proceed.

The Murray Group is taking a similar stance, although they did release a statement which recorded their satisfaction at the result, their wish for the relevant authorities to pursue individuals, and their sense that some coverage of the issue contained "fundamental misunderstandings".

The Big Tax Case became shorthand for portraying a culture of arrogant disregard at Ibrox.

The risk of the scheme cannot be discounted, and Rangers ultimately suffered because of the potential liability of that risk, but unless the UTT judgement is overturned then the tax scheme has been ruled legal.

Other questions are valid, such as how tax documents relating to the case were leaked, and why HMRC allowed Whyte to avoid paying PAYE for nine months before eventually prompting him to put Rangers Football Club plc into administration in February 2012.

Clubs in England used EBTs, but Rangers were the first to be pursued through the courts in this way.

Even without the potential big tax case liability, HMRC held a high enough percentage of the overall debt to reject the Company Voluntary Arrangement offer made to creditors in May 2012.

Other challenges are currently being made, though, and if BDO, the liquidators of RFCplc, are successful in their court action against the law firm Collyer Bristow, there might yet be a further change of perception.

Collyer Bristow were the firm of the lawyer Gary Withey who worked on Whyte's takeover, which turned out to have been funded by money borrowed from Ticketus against the future sales of Rangers season tickets. Collyer Bristow are being pursued for £24m, which would be added to the creditors' pot, but a victory for BDO would cast further light on the events of Whyte's takeover.

Police investigations are ongoing, and widely considered to be approaching an outcome.

The mood of Rangers fans, amongst others, is that the club has been the victim of a potentially fraudulent transaction. Shareholders of RFCplc could then, in theory, launch claims of their own to try to recoup funds. Ticketus, meanwhile, continue to pursue Whyte through the courts for £17m, with the former owner having lost his final route of appeal.

There is no impact on Rangers International Football club, the plc that owns the football team, but for supporters, and shareholders in RFCplc, the nature of the events that led to Whyte owning the club and then sending it into administration because of the non-payment of PAYE is critical.

Lord Doherty's verdict emphasises that while the risk of the EBT scheme cannot be discounted as a contributory factor, it should not have been so widely assumed that HMRC's view would be upheld. Even now, the decision is not final, unless the revenue choose not to pursue it further.

Ultimately, so much of the detail of the events that led to the collapse of RFCplc are still unknown. The story has not, yet, fully been told or understood. More will inevitably be revealed in the coming months.

[Little General 80]

a fair summary from Richard Wilson.

[26th of foot 6,082]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28239070?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

 

The events that led to the financial collapse of Rangers Football Club plc cannot be undone, but they are still under challenge.

The decision of the High Court judge Lord Doherty to dismiss Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs' appeal against the verdict of what became widely known as the "Big Tax Case" is important in terms of perception, but also of grievance.

The use of Employee Benefit Trusts by Murray International Holdings was a means to reduce tax liabilities.

It could be argued that the inherent riskiness of the scheme - which was used by Rangers, as the club was part of MIH at the time, but also several other football teams in England - meant that the group might have had cause to set aside funds in case of future challenges by the authorities.

Nonetheless, riskiness alone is not a reason for prosecution. The potential liability of the big tax case - £24m before any additional interest and penalties - was a burden to Rangers, because it put off potential buyers of the club and it influenced wider opinion.

The latter is a particular cause of anger amongst the Rangers fans, who feel the club was vilified.

Some potential buyers wanted to take control of Rangers as long as MIH retained liability for any potential tax bill, but no agreement could be reached. This, in turn, eventually left the opening for Craig Whyte to appear on the scene and buy the majority shareholding from Sir David Murray for £1.

A chain of events ensued, but the potential liability of the tax case remained a central issue.

HMRC could yet appeal the Upper Tier Tribunal decision of Lord Doherty, and the revenue intend to take time to digest the judgement in full before deciding how to proceed.

The Murray Group is taking a similar stance, although they did release a statement which recorded their satisfaction at the result, their wish for the relevant authorities to pursue individuals, and their sense that some coverage of the issue contained "fundamental misunderstandings".

The Big Tax Case became shorthand for portraying a culture of arrogant disregard at Ibrox.

The risk of the scheme cannot be discounted, and Rangers ultimately suffered because of the potential liability of that risk, but unless the UTT judgement is overturned then the tax scheme has been ruled legal.

Other questions are valid, such as how tax documents relating to the case were leaked, and why HMRC allowed Whyte to avoid paying PAYE for nine months before eventually prompting him to put Rangers Football Club plc into administration in February 2012.

Clubs in England used EBTs, but Rangers were the first to be pursued through the courts in this way.

Even without the potential big tax case liability, HMRC held a high enough percentage of the overall debt to reject the Company Voluntary Arrangement offer made to creditors in May 2012.

Other challenges are currently being made, though, and if BDO, the liquidators of RFCplc, are successful in their court action against the law firm Collyer Bristow, there might yet be a further change of perception.

Collyer Bristow were the firm of the lawyer Gary Withey who worked on Whyte's takeover, which turned out to have been funded by money borrowed from Ticketus against the future sales of Rangers season tickets. Collyer Bristow are being pursued for £24m, which would be added to the creditors' pot, but a victory for BDO would cast further light on the events of Whyte's takeover.

Police investigations are ongoing, and widely considered to be approaching an outcome.

The mood of Rangers fans, amongst others, is that the club has been the victim of a potentially fraudulent transaction. Shareholders of RFCplc could then, in theory, launch claims of their own to try to recoup funds. Ticketus, meanwhile, continue to pursue Whyte through the courts for £17m, with the former owner having lost his final route of appeal.

There is no impact on Rangers International Football club, the plc that owns the football team, but for supporters, and shareholders in RFCplc, the nature of the events that led to Whyte owning the club and then sending it into administration because of the non-payment of PAYE is critical.

Lord Doherty's verdict emphasises that while the risk of the EBT scheme cannot be discounted as a contributory factor, it should not have been so widely assumed that HMRC's view would be upheld. Even now, the decision is not final, unless the revenue choose not to pursue it further.

Ultimately, so much of the detail of the events that led to the collapse of RFCplc are still unknown. The story has not, yet, fully been told or understood. More will inevitably be revealed in the coming months.

 

This reads like the work of Richard Wilson.

 

In the last few weeks, Cosgrove has been continually digging at Wilson, attempting to paint him as a subjective as opposed to objective journalist. On Saturday, Cosgrove and Michael Grant were noting they had seen Wilson sitting in reception at Pacific Quay. Cosgrove was wondering why a Rangers supporter like Richard was inside BBC Scotland, "ah mean aren't they supposed to be boycotting the BBC"? Grant replied, "oh it was Richard, he was sitting there in his Rangers jersey".

 

The week before, Spiers was most barbed, putting on the supposed voice of a Rangers supporter, "that Richard Wilson is the only journalist with his finger on the pulse of the Rangers saga, nobody else has a clue". Spiers went on to bemoan the number of years all journos were wading through the morass at Rangers.

 

It seems obvious that BBC Scotland senior management have finally accepted they no longer 'speak' to the Rangers support and hired Richard Wilson. Clearly, he is perceived by the usual suspects as being off message and no opportunity will be missed to discredit him. Cosgrove is the witch finder General.

[BrahimHemdani 1]

a fair summary from Richard Wilson.

 

It is indeed except that it's out of date now in respect of the BDO case v Collyer Bristow.

 

Two victories in one day, whatever next.

[Hildy 0]

So HMRC could keep it going even now?

 

How likely is that?

[The Real PapaBear 0]

This reads like the work of Richard Wilson.

 

In the last few weeks, Cosgrove has been continually digging at Wilson, attempting to paint him as a subjective as opposed to objective journalist. On Saturday, Cosgrove and Michael Grant were noting they had seen Wilson sitting in reception at Pacific Quay. Cosgrove was wondering why a Rangers supporter like Richard was inside BBC Scotland, "ah mean aren't they supposed to be boycotting the BBC"? Grant replied, "oh it was Richard, he was sitting there in his Rangers jersey".

 

The week before, Spiers was most barbed, putting on the supposed voice of a Rangers supporter, "that Richard Wilson is the only journalist with his finger on the pulse of the Rangers saga, nobody else has a clue". Spiers went on to bemoan the number of years all journos were wading through the morass at Rangers.

 

It seems obvious that BBC Scotland senior management have finally accepted they no longer 'speak' to the Rangers support and hired Richard Wilson. Clearly, he is perceived by the usual suspects as being off message and no opportunity will be missed to discredit him. Cosgrove is the witch finder General.

 

Cosgrove is a cunt and well suited to his gig in an organisation that protected paedophiles for decades and lies every day in its "news" coverage - and I'm not just talking about its coverage of the Indy debate.

Edited July 9, 2014 by The Real PapaBear

[Ibrox Street Boy 0]

To Post 69

"I have a great deal of sympathy with this view, the only question being is it worth pursuing?"

 

Hardly the "No Surrender " attitude.

 

We cannot forget the injustice done to our club, injustice initialized by HMRC , they lit the fuse and let it burn, they allowed everyone to believe they were right and Rangers PLC was wrong, they allowed the leaks to the press.

 

We also cannot forget that not all employees at HMRC are non sectarian, non biased, non political or fit and proper people, in other words, IMO someone in a high position within HMRC Scotland had a plan, an aggenda or given a nod and a wink then saw an opportunity.

 

There are too many unanswered questions for any Rangers supporters to say "lets forget about it, there's nothing we can do"

[Anchorman 0]

So HMRC could keep it going even now?

How likely is that?

I believe they have stated some time back that it is very likely.

[der Berliner 3,743]

It is their right, methinks. It should be our right to question those motives. For, as I see it - even if they win "something" in another appeal - tribunals and judges have decided that oldco did very little wrong in terms of EBT use and I for one doubt that those judgements will be revoked. So whatever HMRC is chasing, it will by now cost more than what they could reclaim. Blatant if not already criminal waste of taxpayers' money. Maybe someone should appeal to those responsible to stop this?