Jim Harra, chief executive HMRC

In a very unusual move, chief executive Jim Harra made a social media announcement to reject the claims made in The Times that mistakes made by officials in HMRC led to the club’s financial downfall.

It was reported in The Times on Thursday that up to £50 million could be removed from Rangers FC’s tax bill after HMRC publicly recognised that it had claimed too much money from the club.

Some members of the accountancy industry believe that the bill for using offshore trusts, known as employee benefit trusts (EBTs) to pay the wages of Rangers players and staff might end up being closer to £20m.

However, HMRC’s press office account on Twitter issues a statement which read: “As widely reported today and to clarify: HMRC won against Rangers’ tax avoidance in the Supreme Court, and did not miscalculate anything.”

In a letter published on Twitter, Mr Harra said he disagreed with the media coverage of the Rangers case.

He wrote: “HMRC did not make any mistakes that led to the club’s insolvency. HMRC won against Rangers’ tax avoidance in the Supreme Court. We have a long-standing claim with the liquidators to recover the money due as a result of this judgment.

“Inaccurate and partial reporting only serves to undermine public trust in the tax system. HMRC is committed to getting tax right, for everyone, and to challenging tax avoidance wherever we find it. We make sure large businesses, like all other taxpayers, pay the taxes due under UK law.”