Ominous warning for former Rangers stars as Gary McAllister hit with HMRC bankruptcy petition

Gary McAllister has been hot with a bankruptcy petition from HMRC.

The former Scotland midfielder enjoyed a long and lucrative career in English football after leaving Motherwell for Leicester in 1985.

McAllister’s playing career bridged the introduction of the EPL. In 1992 he won the First Division title with Leeds united, in 2001 he was part of the Liverpool squad than won a treble consisting of UEFA, Cup, FA Cup and League Cup.

In the early years of the new century people in and around football were encouraged to invest in tax efficient film partnerships.

Duncan Ferguson described it as a virus going through football when he reflected on his own bankruptcy despite being involved in several significant transfers. Many of which involved Walter Smith.

The virus certainly reached Scotland, in 2016 the Daily Record named Martin O’Neill, Peter Lawwell, Neil Lennon, Barry Ferguson, Billy Dodds and Gordon Durie being investigated.

NOW IT IS PAYBACK TIME FOR MCALLISTER

Today The Telegraph reported:

Gary McAllister has been hit with a bankruptcy petition by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

The former Leeds United, Liverpool and Scotland midfielder is facing the threat of financial ruin after HMRC took him to court over an unpaid tax bill.

The amount owed and the reasons behind it have yet to emerge, but McAllister was among a number of footballers who years ago invested in film partnerships that were later ruled by HMRC to be tax-avoidance schemes.

Such schemes inflated the amount of relief an individual might otherwise receive, including by propping up relatively modest investments with enormous loans.

McAllister returned to Scotland in 2018 as part of Steven Gerrard’s management team at Ibrox.

While Micky Beale was billed as The Brains Behind Gerrard there was no specific role for McAllister who had been working as a Liverpool ambassador before moving to Ibrox.

News that HMRC are still chasing down tax demands from 20 years ago is bound to be worrying news for many former Rangers players.

Neil McCann, Dodds, Ferguson, Steven Thompson, Alex Rae and others all benefitted from payments made into offshore Trusts without deduction of Income Tax and National Insurance.

HMRC STRIKES BACK- LEST WE FORGET

McCann and Ferguson have been dogged with tax issues since their playing days ended with McCann trying to include provision for a potential tax bill in his divorce settlement.

For more than a decade Dave Murray attracted players to Rangers using offshore Trusts that other clubs steered clear off.

The SFA and SPL were well aware of what was going on with copies of contracts lodged with the football authorities.

While Celtic paid top wages to Chris Sutton and Neil Lennon in 2000 Tore Andrew Flo and Ronald de Boer arrived at Ibrox on contracts paying less than half the amounts that Celtic were shelling out.

Roger Mitchell, CEO of the SPL at the time rubbed his hands as he cashed in with broadcasting and sponsorship deals in full knowledge of the questionable contracts at Ibrox.

Post Mitchell the SPL happily registered Barry Ferguson returning to Rangers from Blackburn Rovers onto a contract for £8,000 a week.

Rangers went into liquidation in 2012 on an unrelated tax matter. A total of 276 creditors including HMRC, Scottish Ambulance Service, Police Scotland, florists, newsagents, a face-painter and taxi companies were left holding unpaid invoices.

In July 2017 The Supreme Court decided that the schemes from Murray were simply disguised remuneration. Liable to Income Tax, National Insurance, interest and penalties.

There has been no publicity over former Rangers players being hit with tax demands in relation to their EBT payments.

Hopefully some are in for the McAllister treatment with demands from HMRC on the way.