I have noted a strange omission in the news reports about a certain Glasgow football club.
I have not heard anyone state what seems to me obvious - hospitals are closing and schools are short of resources because large companies use complicated tax avoidance measures to avoid paying what they should. Thus the public purse is strapped through corporate criminal activity.
Christian Aid have recently been running a campaign calling on the government to stop corporate tax avoidance by multinational companies which can harm people in developing countries.
When some people talk about Rangers they seem to think that a football club is very different to a bank. But it is not. It is a very similar corporate entity. It has highly payed star players who are like the top traders in a bank. These individuals get huge salaries and bonuses and they employ clever accountants to try and make sure they pay as little tax as possible. In doing this they often are close to the line that divides what is legal and what is not. It would seem from the aggressive pursuit of Rangers by HMRC that the tax authorities believe Rangers have gone over the line of legality.
Some time ago Livingstone football club went into administration to avoid paying a huge bill to the council, and then through a clever and legal dodge by lawyers and accountants started up as a new club with the same name but leaving all its debts to the town behind.
I don't like football. I don't like criminal behaviour. I do not like the cuts in public spending because the tax revenue is not there. The whole business stinks.....
HMRC stands for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs which is the Taxation department of Government
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