Juninho’s EBT……….. who would you trust?

So for months now we have been told by everyone from Young, Traynor, Keevins, and Jackson that EBT’s were perfectly legal. The great man, Chas Green himself, has also said they were legal but it was how they were administered that was the issue.

Now according to the geniuses within our media they have decided that all EBT’s are illegal.

In a strange twist of fate they have finally, after months of searching, found a way to link Celtic to this story in an attempt to show that one is as bad as the other yet again. I call it “two cheeks of the same @rse” syndrome.

The problem with this story is that it has been available to, and discussed by, “the bampots” months ago. So sadly yet again the MSM are months behind the curve.

Now correct me if I’m wrong but the bones of this so called story are as follows;

Juninho signed a contract with Celtic.

Was he paid to play football via an EBT?

Answer: NO.

Were all of his payments included in the contract registered with the SPL and SFA?

Answer: YES.

Were Celtic at fault or did they break any of the SFA or SPL rules in his registration to play professional football in Scotland?

Answer: NO.

Celtic and Juninho decided to terminate his contract early and, like most players in modern football, he was paid a pay off to terminate his contract.

Was this payment part of his contact?

Answer: NO. It was a termination payment and, as a termination payment, there was no need to have it in his contract to play football.

Was this one off payment paid via an EBT.

Answer: YES.

Were any of the SFA or SPL rules broken in this transaction?

Answer: NO because it was not a payment to play football rather it was a payment not to play football. In short it was a payment to bugger off.

Now at this point Celtic, being wary of EBT’s, since they had decided not to implement the same system as Rangers asked HMRC, or took advice, clarifying if this payment required the payment of income tax. Celtic after discussion with HMRC paid the tax due.

Now much has been made by the media that the EBT scheme used down Govan way was mentioned in the accounts every year. Yet again there is no problem with EBT’s for non-football playing staff, so perhaps Campbell Ogilvie can sleep safe, as long as it is administered properly. Some other clubs may adopt such a scheme for non-playing staff however as soon as it becomes linked to a player’s salary it becomes fraught with difficulty.

Did Rangers ever specify in their accounts that such large sums of money were going into the EBT or did they specify that players were being paid in this manner?

Most likely not as either of these would have meant that they had to be registered with the SPL and SFA and, if they did that, then they were liable for tax as it would not be a discretionary payment.

Now getting back to the Juninho EBT; are the media really trying to tell the Scottish footballing public that this use of an EBT is really the same as a club systematically avoiding registering all payments made to players and using a scheme designed to avoid paying tax for a period of over a decade?

Listening to the media is almost like listening to Tony Blair make the case for going to war with Iraq and we all know how that panned out.

It started off with this is all internet nonsense when the tax bill was first talked about. When it became clear that there was a tax bill we were told they had not yet been found guilty of anything despite HMRC levying a bill with a fine attached.

We were also told that it would all be negotiated away despite the fact that HMRC don’t negotiate.

Then there was the day Sheriff Officers pitched up at Ibrox we were told it was just a routine visit.

Then when things began to unravel last year we were told there was no way Rangers would go into administration.

When they went into administration we were told it would only last a few weeks. When it was mentioned that they would be liquidated we were told that would never happen.

When HMRC rejected the CVA we were told that Rangers founded in 1872 was finished along with the associated history. Charles Green even stated this in a TV interview.

When it was stated that “The Rangers” would not be allowed to play in the SPL we were told that that could not happen.

When it was stated that “The Rangers” would need to start again in Division 3 we were told that this would lead to Armageddon within Scottish football.

When Chas Green started his rabble rousing in a desperate attempt to shift season tickets we were suddenly told that the old club’s history had been purchased despite the fact that there is no mention of it in the transfer of assets document made public by Duff and Phelps.

Now we are being told by the media that Juninho’s EBT is as bad as the deceit that has gone on down Govan way. With the media’s track record of being accurate and getting things right in this story I will let you decide who is correct in this latest episode.