Craig Whyte and HMRC

[chilledbear 16]

Suspect the Daily Record will make for interesting reading tomorrow. Will make us even more frustrated though. #justicefortherangerssupport

 

Glad to see what looks like some things HMRC would rather stay unsaid are going to finally come to light.

 

A couple of tweets tonight.

 

Story here:

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/ex-rangers-owner-craig-whyte-being-3992415

 

HMRC had instructed debt enforcers to chase Whyte with a bill for almost £4million and threaten him with bankruptcy in May 2011 - the same month that he bought Rangers from Sir David Murray for £1.

 

THE taxman was chasing Craig Whyte for £3.7million before he took over Rangers.

 

HMRC focused on Whyte’s personal finances and made several failed attempts to get him to pay his dues before, during and after his catastrophic reign at Ibrox.

 

The taxman regarded Whyte as a “flight risk”, fearing he might flee the country without settling his huge tax bill.

 

Documents seen by the Record show:

 

* The authorities instructed debt enforcers to chase Whyte with a bill for almost £4million and threaten him with bankruptcy in May 2011, the same month that he bought Rangers.

 

* It was the culmination of a probe begun the previous year when the taxman learned Whyte had returned to the UK in 2005.

 

* Whyte was continually warned he was failing to submit satisfactory tax returns and risked being fined.

 

* He actually claimed at one stage to have a UK taxable worth of just £24 in accrued bank interest.

 

* Yet when he struck the notorious deal with Ticketus for funds to finance his Rangers takeover, he gave the firm a personal guarantee he was worth nearly £33million.

 

This “guarantee”, which was obtained by HMRC, helped them calculate Whyte’s £3,741,835.29 tax bill but he continued stalling tactics to avoid coughing up.

 

At the same time he was able to run up a further £15million in unpaid taxes and penalties during his nine months in charge of Rangers.

 

Whyte had bought Rangers for £1 from Sir David Murray in May 2011, while agreeing to wipe out the club’s £18million debts.

 

But on February 14, 2012, he made a legal move to have the Ibrox outfit placed into administration.

 

By then the club’s debt had rocketed to around £50million.

 

HMRC then rejected a Company Voluntary Arrangement, forcing the club’s owners to be liquidated in a move which also saw Rangers having to start again in the lowest tier of Scottish football.

 

David Murray has long blamed the taxman for the demise of Rangers, saying the spectre of the Big Tax Case – a potential bill of between £46m and £100million, hanging over the club forced his hand in selling up.

 

But a sizeable proportion of Rangers fans still hold Murray at least partly responsible for the club’s demise, arguing he should not have sold to Whyte, whose reputation had already been questioned.

 

Ultimately, Rangers won the Big Tax Case when a tribunal ruled Employee Benefit Trusts paid to players were in fact loans not subject to tax – and HMRC’s appeal against that judgment was rejected this year.

 

Fans remain furious at the taxman for bringing the case in the first place, and the latest documents from July 2012 obtained by the Record are unlikely to quell their anger.

 

They show HMRC began building their case against Whyte from the moment his proposed take over first hit the headlines in November 2010, six months before he was eventually handed the keys to Ibrox.

 

The paperwork from the taxman’s high net worth unit states: “HMRC became aware that Whyte had returned to live in the UK when the press carried stories in 2010 that he was potentially going to purchase Rangers Football Club plc.

 

“HMRC discovered that Whyte had been back in the UK since 2005. He did not notify HMRC of his return to the UK, nor did he complete tax returns.”

 

The documents go on to chronicle various atttempts by the taxman to force Whyte to detail his finances and warnings of fines he faces if he fails to comply.

 

In the absence of his co-operation, the tax office made their own calculations and issued Whyte with demands for £1million for the financial year 2006-07 and £1.2million for the following year.

 

Whyte did finally submitted some returns. But the documents note: “The returns contained entries in respect of net UK bank interest of £24 for 2006-07 and £491 for 2007-08.”

 

This pattern continues throughout the reports, until a damning revelation centring on Whyte’s takeover of Rangers when he secured funding from Ticketus to head off the club’s future debt in exchange for money from season ticket sales.

 

Presumably to convince Ticketus he was a genuine businessman, Whyte gave his own word that he was good for the investment, according to the HMRC documents.

 

They state: “The personal guarantee included a statement of Whyte’s net worth, signed by him, which showed he had net assets with a value of £32,956,843.”

 

This was the evdience HMRC needed to slap Whyte with the tax bill of £3,741,835.29 at the time of his takeover.

 

Just four days after he posed for pictures with the SPL trophy at Rugby Park following a thrilling last day climax to the league campaign, a letter was written to Whyte by HMRC’s higher debt manager detailing the claim and giving him seven days to pay in full.

 

Whyte was warned that a warrant would be served on him by a sheriff officer who would also provide him with a leaflet entitled Dealing with Debt to help him assess his options.

 

The letter continues: “If the debt remains unpaid, I will arrange to present a sequestration petition in your local sheriff court. The effect of this is that you are likely to be made bankrupt and a Trustee appointed to sell your assets and pay your creditors.”

 

Even then Whyte continued to stall, appealing to a tribunal against the judgment. As HMRC do not discuss private tax dealings, the outcome as yet remains unknown.

 

But the emergence of HMRC’s serious concerns about Whyte before his takeover prompted further anger among senior Rangers figures.

 

Alastair Johnston, Rangers chairman at the time, pleaded with Murray not to sell the club to Whyte. He was subsequently axed.

 

Presented with the revelations last night, he said: “On the back of this, I would welcome a full-scale, independent investigation into the actions of HMRC around the Rangers issue.”

 

Former director Paul Murray added: “I have always said that what has happened to Rangers has been nothing short of disgraceful.

 

“The club has been the victim of a fraud. A lot of people have made a lot of money at the club’s expense and it has to end.

 

“It is in the public interest to find out exactly what has happened and then to take action. Justice must be done and be seen to be done.”

Edited August 5, 2014 by Frankie

[forlanssister 3,114]

Saw this earlier.

 

keith jackson ‏@tedermeatballs 24m

Here's a wee question. How much did HMRC know about Craig Whyte's tax dodging tendencies BEFORE he bought RFC?

 

Of course they knew everything about it just as Lloyds/HBOS knew all about him being the banker to his various businesses and granting him a 125% mortgage on Castle Grant.

[RANGERRAB 3,653]

Saw this earlier.

 

 

 

Of course they knew everything about it just as Lloyds/HBOS knew all about him being the banker to his various businesses and granting him a 125% mortgage on Castle Grant.

 

And why were LBG so keen for Whyte to get Rangers ? Perhaps the two bhoys could answer that one

[forlanssister 3,114]

keith jackson ‏@tedermeatballs 4m

Full story and reaction from a furious Alastair Johnston in tomorrow's @Daily_Record

[ian1964 10,720]

Andy McKellar ‏@AMcKellar89 5m

@ofvoid I mean, how many winding up orders were Hearts issued with? HMRC knowingly and willingly allowed Whyte to rack up debt.

 

Shane Nicholson ‏@ofvoid 1m

@AMcKellar89 Be a shame if they informed the SFA as well. Hate to know the governing body was party to all this...

 

Andy McKellar ‏@AMcKellar89 1m

@ofvoid You're not suggesting...? Nah, can't be.

[buster. 5,183]

And why were LBG so keen for Whyte to get Rangers ?

 

Simples.....................Follow the Money

 

They all knew about CW and his MO.

Duped, my arse.

[aweebluesoandso 290]

The timing of this is interesting, could AJ know the HMRC intentions regarding a further appeal by them or not?

 

David Murray would have been told by his QC by now if an further appeal is not on the cards? maybe that information has been passed on to AJ and the gloves are coming off now.

 

Just seams to me there is a lot coming together and coincidences on a few fronts.

[buba3d 0]

RFC bosses should have contacted me, i could have told them a few stories about whyes past dodgy dealings, the A hole ran off with all our wages at vital uk and fled to the bahamas, i and number of other folk lost our jobs because of that b******, if it turns out that dm, aj, pm and the rest of the old board knew about whyte, i'll be demanding dm to be stripped of his knighthood and he face jail.

[SteveC 150]

Lifted from Follow Follow

Posted by glasgowiron

 

I've got it in front of me,

 

HMRC had been chasing Whyte for a while as he had been filing unsatisfactory tax returns and at one point he claimed he was worth £24.

 

He then gave Ticketus a guarantee that he had a personal fortune of £33m which was passed onto HMRC who then hit him with a bill of £3.74m on the £33m.

 

They then let him buy Rangers and run up another £15m in unpaid taxes before admin.

 

 

 

The total sum of Alistair Johnston's 'interview' is "On the back of this, I would welcome a full scale independent investigation into the actions of HMRC around the Rangers issue".

 

Interestingly,Chris Graham has claimed this is the first of a few hits to be landed on HMRC

[RANGERRAB 3,653]

RFC bosses should have contacted me, i could have told them a few stories about whyes past dodgy dealings, the A hole ran off with all our wages at vital uk and fled to the bahamas, i and number of other folk lost our jobs because of that b******, if it turns out that dm, aj, pm and the rest of the old board knew about whyte, i'll be demanding dm to be stripped of his knighthood and he face jail.

 

The old board knew all about Whyte. Do you seriously believe SDM willingly sold to Whyte. Forget HMRC, they couldn't stop Whyte getting hold of Rangers. The question needs to be asked whether LBG forced SDM to sell Rangers to Whyte. WE all know who was running LBG's Scottish business division at that time don't we?