Alan Brazil: All this Rangers and HMRC business has done is reignite bad memories

Confusion.

That’s my response to this week’s supposed revelations about Rangers and HMRC.

How is anybody supposed to make sense of any of it?

Even forensic accountants must be struggling, never mind the man in the street.

The crux of it is this – was the tax bill slapped on Rangers by HMRC over their use of Employee Benefit Trusts too high?

Some people with Gers sympathies say yes.

HMRC have firmly denied it.

So, all things considered, it’s as clear as mud.

But one thing I can say with certainty is that I understand why people who were around the Gers when the tax bill hit are upset.

The thought that there’s even a possibility that the whole thing may have turned out differently, must be very hard to handle.

Take Ally McCoist, for example.

Ally works with me on the radio on a weekly basis.

We have a laugh and a joke. We try to keep it light-hearted.

This week, after the tax story broke, things were a wee bit more serious than normal.

As manager of Rangers when it all came crashing down, he had to deal with the fallout.

He had to sit down with staff, with young players, face-to-face and tell them they didn’t have a job any more.

That sort of thing is never easy.

But to do it with the entire football world watching, analysing your every move . . . that’s brutal.

It was worse for the people who lost their jobs, of course.

And imagine how they must feel now!

As I said, I can’t say for sure what the situation is. It’s too confusing.

But the thought that some of it might have been unnecessary, must be enough to cause those people real concern.

It has certainly been bothering Ally – I’ve seen that with my own eyes.

Those were dark, dark times for the club and the people who worked there.

This week’s developments have stirred up lots of bad memories.

They will want answers to the questions that must be plaguing them… if a mistake was made, how on earth was it missed? Who was responsible? What happens next?

But I doubt they’ll be getting any answers anytime soon.

In fact, I reckon this one will run and run.

HMRC have responded robustly to the story – flatly denying that any mistakes were made and pointing out that they had won against Rangers’ “tax avoidance” in the Supreme Court.

That’s a hard line to take – and I understand why they’re taking it.

There will be other interested parties who may have fallen foul of the same thing Rangers have – EBT use.

If the Gers can prove they were overcharged by HMRC, there will be a run on the tax man, with businesses and individuals claiming compensation.

So there is no way they will lie down.

Once the tax authorities get their hooks in, they are very, very difficult to shake off.

There are plenty of footballers – as well as clubs – who can vouch for that.

There are loads of players who ended up going bankrupt after investing in film production schemes and such, which HMRC later decided were against the rules.

They got no sympathy.

Rangers shouldn’t expect any, either.

But the folk who were directly affected in 2012 are entitled to answers.