FORMER Rangers players and staff who benefited from an elaborate tax avoidance scheme face paying back millions of pounds by the taxman, it has been claimed.

They reportedly have weeks to approach the taxman over a settlement or face a bigger bill.

It comes after Supreme Court judges upheld a Court of Session ruling that about £50million paid to dozens of Rangers players and staff through Employee Benefit Trusts (EBTs) were salaries, not loans, and liable for tax.

READ MORE: Rangers fan group’s scathing attack on senior SNP figures for rejecting Ibrox fan zone plans

The scheme was administered by the Murray Group, then majority shareholder of the Glasgow club, from 2001 to 2009.

Among those who benefited from the scheme were Barry Ferguson – who received £2.5m, Dutch player Ronald de Boer who ‘borrowed’ £1.2m and former manager Alex McLeish with £1.7m. Sir David Murray, the club’s former owner, received £6.3m.

Now it is claimed the beneficiaries of the EBTs, many of whom were led to believe these were loans that would never have to be repaid, are being warned to seek “urgent advice”.

BBC Scotland says a letter sent earlier this month by Trident Trust, a Jersey-based company has issued warnings.

READ MORE: Taxman wins £240,000 costs over Rangers 'Big Tax Case' victory

It says: “HMRC has confirmed that it will seek to recover all income tax found by the Supreme Court to be due and that, where HMRC is unable to recover the tax from the employer, it may transfer the liability for unpaid tax...to employees or former employees.”

The letter from earlier this month adds: “If you do not come forward voluntarily and seek to settle on preferential terms, HMRC could well pursue you directly and make an assessment on a less favourable basis.”

Trident Trust is said to have stressed it is not offering advice, rather urging the players and staff involved to seek expert advice on how to deal with the situation.

READ MORE: Rangers shop mocked over discounted tax discs - FOUR years after they were abolished

The case to the Supreme Court was taken by the liquidators of RFC2012 plc, the company formerly known as Rangers Football Club before its financial collapse in 2012.

It meant that the HMRC could gain a small proportion of what they are owed from the liquidation.

But it had been speculated that players could be made liable.

Last year Andy Wood, a director of Enterprise Tax Consultants could face bankruptcy when the seven-year Big Tax Case saga ended.

HMRC has refused to comment on whether they were seeking recompense from players and staff saying: “We don’t comment on identifiable taxpayers.”