Has the Court of Session Today Made a Decision Which Will Win HMRC the Big Tax Case?

I know that I am not known for the brevity of my blog posts, especially where I have substantial material to work from.

However I am going to change the habits of a blogging lifetime by writing a short post based on a long piece of source material. I will write at greater length but thought this worthy of comment now.

Remember the “Big Tax Case”? That was known, more formally, as Murray Group Holdings & Ors v Revenue & Customs [2012] UKFTT 692 (TC) (29 October 2012) and the decision can be read in full here.

The Murray Group (and predominantly “Rangers”) “won” the case to the extent that, by a two to one majority, the First Tier Tax Tribunal decided that, except in the cases where the appellant conceded otherwise, the payments which had been made via the Employee Benefit Trust structure by the employer and taken by the employee from the trusts and sub-trusts in the form of loans were not payments subject to Income Tax.

The appeal by HMRC is grinding its way towards a full hearing at the Upper Tier Tribunal and will get there eventually.

Did Dave King Teach Craig Whyte His Tax Strategy? + Are There 2 Dave Kings?

It is funny how some things seem very simple, yet become very complicated. One such example is that of Dave King, or, with a tip of the hat to TH White, “the once and future Dave King”.

Other people, including Phil Mac Giolla Bhain and Andy Muirhead at Scotzine have written about the position of Mr King as regards the SFA “fit and proper person” test. For what it is worth I would not expect Mr King to have any problems from the SFA with being classed as “fit and proper”.

There is also more to be written about how his position would affect his chances of being appointed to the present PLC Board.

But for now I wanted to look at one of the issues which is fundamental to both of those matters – does Mr King actually have any criminal convictions from his dealings with the South African Revenue Service? You would have thought that was a simple question – either one has a conviction or one does not.

But the Scottish media, perhaps being “spun” by interested parties, have come up with a range of answers.

If Dave King Returns to Rangers, Should the “Haters” Be Afraid?

Back in the ancient past (2010) when first stories started to appear about the tax issues faced by the Murray International –owned Rangers, and on into 2011 when the Rangers Tax Case blog first saw the light of day, stories about the financial, legal and regulatory aspects of Rangers Football Club appeared every couple of weeks.

RTC could post a blog explaining about the ongoing tax sage, and know that there might only be a need, and even material, for another two or three posts that month.

As time went on the pace of news and developments quickened.

Now we are at the stage where hardly an hour goes past without some new legal issue arising, or some further stage in the fight for control of the assets and business of the Rangers Football Club. All of that means that even professional news organisations sometimes either miss stories completely, or do not have the time for detailed analysis, as something new happens and the original report is overtaken by events. And if it is hard for a professional new operation, how much more difficult for a lone individual who does this as a hobby!

The Incredible Shrinking PLC Board – Who Will Nominate New Rangers Directors?

Following the departures of Messrs Mather and Smart this morning, the Rangers website was quickly updated.

It graphically shows the sorry state the RIFC Boardroom has reached.

Yep.

That is it.

Just two of them.

‘It became necessary to destroy the town to save it’ – Craig Mather’s Departure From Rangers

Rangers International Football Club PLC is, as the name tells us, a public limited company. Its shares are traded on the Stock Exchange. There are certain standards of corporate governance which require to be met in the interests of shareholders and potential shareholders. These include having a suitably qualified Board of Directors, comprising executives and non-executives and including a chairman to represent the interests of the investors and to oversee the executives.

RIFC presently has a board which consists of:-

Brian Stockbridge – Finance Director

James Easdale – Non-Executive Director