The BBC just nuked Rangers (Update: BBC Documentary Added)

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what does all of that mean?

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What is an Employee Benefit Trust?

A trust enables an individual to own an asset on behalf of someone else. The first person is the "trustee" and the second is the "beneficiary". Company pension schemes are a common example of a trust.

With EBTs, the employer deposits money in to the trust, which is paid out to the beneficiaries in the form of tax-free loans.

Trusts are often postponed and are sometimes refused by the trustee, who is, in theory, acting independently of the employer.

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Payments from an EBT should not be made on a contractual basis, as it would make them part of an employee's salary and subject to tax and National Insurance.

HMRC claims that Rangers' EBT scheme was a tax scam as it was contractual, which forms the basis of the so-called "Big Tax Case".

HMRC also insists it has proof of this in the form of documents and emails between former directors at Rangers and players' agents.

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Between 2001 and 2010, Rangers paid a total of £47.65m in to their Employee Benefit Trust. Details of the amounts paid in to the trust were declared in the club's annual accounts.

Rangers also operated another tax avoidance scheme for two former players, Tore Andre Flo and Ronald De Boer, between 2000-01 and 2002-03 known as a 'Discounted Options Scheme' - commonly referred to as the "Wee Tax Case". HMRC issued Rangers with a bill of about £4m for outstanding amounts owed from the discounted options tax scheme, which was settled, but has not been paid.

BBC Scotland understands the Murray Group paid at least £10m to the trust.

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BBC Scotland has also seen evidence, which was submitted to a court, suggesting that 53 Rangers players and staff had side-letters giving undertakings to fund their sub-trusts with cash.

According to the Scottish Football Association's registration rules, payments received by a player solely relating to his playing activities must be fully recorded and declared, otherwise the player has been improperly registered.

If a player is deemed to be improperly registered, the norm is for his team to forfeit any match in which he has participated.

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Former Rangers player/manager Graeme Souness received £30,000 from the trust in 2001 - 10 years after leaving the club.

Mr Souness led the Rangers revolution in the 1990s, setting the club on the road to their famous nine-in-a-row championship title-winning run, but he left the club in 1991.

Ten years later Mr Souness was managing the English side Blackburn Rovers, and, just five weeks after requesting a payment from the trust, he completed the signing of Turkey international midfielder Tugay Kerimoglu from Rangers.

The BBC has seen files which showed that HMRC suspected Mr Souness's payment could have been illegal in relation to the transfer of Tugay, but it found no additional documentation to verify it.

Mr Souness declined to respond to BBC Scotland's allegations.

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not going to happen

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I absolutely abhor the vacating of titles.

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The Rangers were first on the table at the end of the season.

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tax scam

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tax avoidance

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