Craig Whyte claims HMRC chief regretted no Rangers deal to avoid 2012 administration 'disaster'

Craig Whyte claims a high-up boss at HMRC told him they "should have done a deal" with Rangers to avoid the "disaster" of administration.

The former owner explained the conversation he'd had with the taxman following the club's descent into insolvency during the infamous off-field battle in 2012. Whyte claims he was told HMRC would never win the case against Gers back before he purchased the club from David Murray for £1 but it "became clear" the debt they were in at the time was as much as £50m.

He also claims he urged the government department to strike a deal to avoid insolvency but suggests that it was ultimately inevitable when HMRC refused and he says it was "like banging his head against a wall".

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"In that case there was a dispute between HMRC and Rangers," he told Craig Campbell's SEO podcast. "Rangers were adamant they didn't owe the money, although subsequently the tribunals have come to the conclusion that they did owe the larger amount and that became pretty clear soon after I bought the club despite various representations from the previous owners saying, 'No there's no way they're gonna win the case'.

"It became clear within a few weeks of buying the club that this debt of at least £50million was going to come due at some point. The problem with a high-profile business which is in the press every day, there are stories every day. Any other company that has this potential liability that can put them out of business, they can sweep it under the carpet for a bit until the clock chimes as it were.

"A high-profile business you've got all this social media chat, news media saying there's a devastating debt, so it makes it very difficult for the business to continue. I had conversations with HMRC saying, 'We've got to find a solution to this and quickly or else the club can't continue'. But trying to deal with a government department is like banging your head against a brick wall, they don't wanna know, they've got their procedures and aren't interested in having a rational conversation like two people in business would have.

"They've got their bureaucratic procedures to go through. It became apparent there was no option but for Rangers to go through an insolvency process which would get rid of the debt, as it were. What should've happened is they should've gone through that process very quickly, the first two months, instead of leaving it until several months later."

Whyte added: "The end outcome assuming that the tax authorities refused to do a deal, which they did, although they did say after the disaster of the insolvency process at Rangers, the main guy at HMRC did say we should have done a deal, which I told him many times. That he should've done a deal, but they didn't want to know.

"I told them administration is gonna be a disaster and should be avoided in doing it in this uncontrolled way, but they don't want to listen."