Binding verdict on ‘big tax case’ to be delivered

Supreme Court judges will deliver their binding verdict on the Rangers “big tax case” next Wednesday. The court has announced that a ruling on the Employee Benefit Trust saga will be issued in court, screened live on its website, at 945am on 5 July.

The liquidators of oldco Rangers had an appeal heard over two days in March after the Court of Session ruled in favour of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs following two earlier tribunal defeats for the tax authority.

The argument centres on whether payments made to dozens of players and other staff over a 10-year period from 2001 through a near£50million scheme amounted to taxable earnings or loans.

The tax dispute played a major role in oldco Rangers going into administration and then liquidation in 2012.

Rangers were fined £250,000 by the Scottish Premier League in 2013 over “side letters” relating to EBTS that were kept secret from the league, but next week’s verdict will not affect the current Ibrox regime.