Premier League and English Football League clubs "could be forced to hand over millions of pounds of unpaid tax" after a Supreme Court ruling against Scottish Premiership side Rangers, according to the BBC. The seven-year legal dispute between the club and U.K. tax authority HMRC -- known as the "Big Tax Case" -- ended on Wednesday. The U.K.'s highest court of appeal ruled in favor of HMRC over "Rangers' use of tax-free loans to pay players, managers and directors" worth more than £47M between '01 and '10. Instead of paying players a salary, which is subject to income tax and national insurance, Rangers put millions of pounds into trusts "which were then taken as tax-free loans by staff." Several clubs in England used "similar schemes to reward players and directors." HMRC Customer Compliance Group Dir General David Richardson said, "The decision has wide-ranging implications for other avoidance cases and we encourage anyone who's tried to avoid tax on their earnings to now agree with us the tax owed." Andy Wood of Enterprise Tax Consultants, which worked with one English club to strike a deal, said, "The indications are that the sums involved could run into tens of millions of pounds." An HMRC spokesperson said that the tax affairs of 67 players, 39 clubs and 13 agents are now being looked at "concerning a range of issues, including image rights abuse." He added that more than 100 footballers are being investigated "in relation to the use of tax avoidance schemes" (BBC, 7/6).
