Ed Sheeran and JK Rowling are among Britain’s biggest taxpayers - see list

26 January 2024 , 08:00

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Bet365 boss Denise Coates (Image: PA)

Gambling queen Denise Coates, pub tycoon Tim Martin and high street billionaire Mike Ashley have been named among Britain’s biggest taxpayers.

The list also includes the co-founder of Specsavers and Formula 1 mogul Bernie Ecclestone. And from the worlds of sports and entertainment Harry Potter author JK Rowling, boxer Anthony Joshua and singer Ed Sheeran.

In total, the 100 wealthy individuals or families were calculated to be liable for a total of £5.353billion of UK tax last year. But two thirds were found to have paid less this year. The rankings include corporation tax, dividend tax, capital gains tax, income tax and payroll taxes as well as gambling and alcohol duties, according to the most recently filed company accounts.

Each of the individuals or families had to have paid £10million to warrant a place on the Tax List — £700,000 less than in 2023.

Ed Sheeran and JK Rowling are among Britain’s biggest taxpayers - see list qeituiqzeixdinv

Ex-Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone (APA/AFP via Getty Images)

Topping this year’s list for the second year is Moscow-born billionaire Alex Gerko, who had an estimated tax liability of £664.5million. Mathematician Mr Gerko is behind London-based financial trading firm XTX. His contribution was equivalent to £1.8million a day, or £75,000 an hour.

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After FI tycoon Mr Ecclestone’s £652.6million was Bet365 billionaire Ms Coates and her family, at £375.9million. It emerged recently that Ms Coates, 56, Britain’s richest women, collected another £271million in pay and dividends last year. The family behind rival gambling empire Bet365 - brothers Fred and Peter Done - were fourth on the list, at £204.6million..

Making up the top five is Sir Tim, founder of pub giant JD Wetherspoons, with a tax bill of £167.1million. Sir Tim said it was “vitally important” that more companies reported all the tax they paid. “Without this perspective people may become more cynical about free enterprise, which is the vital engine of prosperity, and thereby freedom, for democratic societies,” he said.

Others high on the list include Sports Direct billionaire Mike Ashley (£139.4million), shoe mender chain John Timpson and family (almost £100million), and Specsavers’ Dame Mary and Douglas Perkins (£97.7million).

A new entry on the list is heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua. His company posted a turnover of £129million and he has now turned his hand to property. The star of the ring ranks 88th out of the top 100 nationally in the Tax List and is said to have contributed over £12million.

Ed Sheeran and JK Rowling are among Britain’s biggest taxpayers - see list

Pop star Ed Sheeran (Getty Images for Amazon Music)

Harry Potter creator JK Rowling (Getty Images for Warner Bros.)

Author JK Rowling is 31st on the list, with another Fantastic Beasts film, a computer game and more adventures for her detective Cormoran Strike having boosted the Harry Potter writer’s earnings in the past year. She paid an estimated £40million in UK taxes in the past twelve months.

Meanwhile Ed Sheeran, the stadium-filling former busker has banked a £62million payout from Hayagotatourboi - the company that gets his box office takings - and he has paid over £36million in UK tax and is joint 32nd on the list.

Robert Watts, compiler of The Sunday Times Tax List, said: “Bernie Ecclestone seems to have saved Jeremy Hunt ’s blushes. The total tax found in this year’s research would have been a wedge lower were it not for the vast sum shelled out by the Formula One tycoon to settle a long-running investigation. If you look at the bottom 98 in this year’s list they paid £4.0335 billion, £200million less than last year. That’s the amount the government pledged to the NHS to boost winter resilience. Two thirds of the wealthy individuals in 2023’s Tax List were found to have paid less tax this year. That was usually because their businesses have reported lower profits. “But lower tax receipts from the UK’s richest people may raise more than the odd eyebrow at a time when the public finances remain stretched and there is talk of budget giveaways in the air.”