Valley Bluenose
RTV? Completed it mate!
I have a bit of further info on this whole subject, that may or may not be already known, or may indeed deserve its own thread. I don't know. I have known about this for about a year, but I thought all this shit was done and dusted.
I have a mate who was running a couple of companies using EBT's to limit his tax liabilities in the 2000's. He was waiting on the outcome of the big tax case, as it may have meant that the tax man was coming after him for enough to put him personally under. He is an incredibly savvy, rich and well connected guy in the North London Jewish community.
Given the stakes for him and his personal wealth he hired what he described as the best (and most expensive) tax expert barrister in the country. It turns out that BDO were using the same guy during the course of these tribunals. He described this guy as an absolute genius, who he met and discussed this with on a few occasions. This guy was telling him how HMRC's case was weak but the Rangers case was important as they were making an 'example of them'. The barrister was convinced that he would smash it. He was clearly right; on two occasions when representing BDO he was successful. Before the final Supreme Court appeal HMRC did all they could to get rid of him, including getting the hearing changed at short notice to when they knew he would be in the Caribbean. In the end they managed to get the final Supreme Court hearing moved to Edinburgh. They argued that it was out with this guys English jurisdiction and he was unable to present the case under what was now Scots Law. An absolute stitch up because they knew they would lose. Whoever else picked up this very complex case did it at short notice and didn't do a great job and as we know the result was the HMRC 'won' the final appeal.
I have no way of proving this is accurate, but I do know I believe what my man said and he told me all of this simply because I mentioned I was a Rangers fan. He had no agenda other than concerns about his own wealth and he's not much of a football fan. It may or may not be relevant in the grand scheme of things but if true it's yet another factor which shows the lengths the HMRC went to, and the money they spent, to try and crucify us.
I’m afraid your story doesn’t stack up. I remember watching the live stream of the Supreme Court case. It was in London. The first time the Supreme Court ever sat outside London was when they came to Scotland in June 2017, some 3 months after the tax case was heard.
Andrew Thornhill was the QC who fought the case through the Courts and he, and others, presented the case at the Supreme Court in London. Maybe your friend refers to the earlier appeal at the Court of Session in Scotland?
I can’t comment on the other aspects.