HM Revenue and Customs have been given the go-ahead to challenge a tax ruling over Scottish football club Rangers use of a Employee Benefits Trust.

Having recently lost an upper-tier tax tribunal against Rangers use of a similar legitimate scheme by the club in which they paid £47.65m to players and staff in tax-free loans. The tribunal upheld that the payments were loans, which were repaid and therefore were not taxable.

A HM Revenue & Customs spokesman confirmed the action to challenge the rule “We are pleased that the upper tribunal has given HMRC leave to appeal to the Court of Session. We continue to believe that schemes using employee benefit trusts to avoid income tax and NICs do not work.”

HM Revenue & Customs began its dispute with Rangers when they issued a winding-up order after the clubs failure to pay its tax liabilities, believed to be around £14m. Craig Whyte purchased the club for £1 from Sir David Murray less than a year before the club collapsed. It was under this new ownership that Rangers began its use of Employee Benefit Trusts.