Pritti MistryBusiness reporter
The billionaire brothers behind gambling giant Betfred have topped a list of the UK’s 100 biggest taxpayers, which also features Harry Styles, Anthony Joshua and JK Rowling.
Fred and Peter Done, who founded the Warrington-based business in 1967, lead the annual Sunday Times Tax List for the first time, having paid an estimated £400.1m tax bill over the past year.
Manchester City’s Erling Haaland, 25, is the youngest person to appear on the list – at number 72 – with a projected £16.9m tax payment, while Liverpool’s Mo Salah is believed to have a £14.5m bill.
The list shows a total of £5.758bn was paid by the top 100 taxpayers, up from £4.985bn the previous year.
Harry Potter author and tax list regular JK Rowling ranked 36 with a £47.5m bill, musician Ed Sheeran came in at 64 paying £19.9m, while boxer Joshua, who is 100th on the list, paid £11m.
Styles, the former One Direction member-turned-solo artist, made a £24.7m tax payment and was among the new entries on the list.
Wetherspoon founder Sir Tim Martin appeared eighth on the list with a tax contribution of an estimated £199.7m.
The Done brothers, whose estimated bill rose from £273.4m recorded in last year’s Sunday Times list, were among 45 of the top 100 taxpayers found to have been paying more than last year.
The compilers of the list suggested the increased tax paid by the top 100 was in part down to a rise in corporation tax from 19 to 25% that was introduced in 2023 by the previous government, and a higher tax rate on dividends.
Financial trading entrepreneur Alex Gerko was second on the list with £331.4m in tax, followed by hedge fund boss Chris Rokos, who paid £330m.
Six taxpayers feature on the list despite leaving the UK in the past year, amid reports of wealthy individuals relocating to avoid higher taxes and the end of non-dom status.
They include Revolut founder Nik Storonsky, Wren Kitchens’ Malcolm Healey and sports promoter Eddie Hearn.
According to the Sunday Times list, the top 10 UK taxpayers are:
- Fred and Peter Done and family – Betfred – £400.1m
- Alex Gerko – trader – £331.4m
- Chris Rokos – bond trader – £330m
- Stephen Rubin and family – Chair of Pentland Group – £325.6m
- Denise, John, and Peter Coates – Bet365 – £227.1m
- Peter Hargreaves – Hargreaves Lansdown cofounder – £210m
- Tom Morris and family – Home Bargains – £209.1m
- Sir Tim Martin – JD Wetherspoon pubs – £199.7m
- Mike Ashley – retail – £175.9m
- Dame Mary, Douglas Perkins and family – Specsavers – £121.7m
Robert Watts, who compiled the list, said: “This is an increasingly diverse list, with Premier League footballers and world famous pop stars lining up alongside aristocrats and business owners selling pies, pillows and baby milk.
“This year there’s been a big jump in the amount of tax we’ve identified – largely because of higher corporation tax rates.”
HMRC does not comment on individual cases so the BBC cannot verify the estimates provided by the Times.
Correction – a previous version of this story wrongly stated that many on the list were paying more after changes to corporation tax rates and other taxes by the Labour government – the increase to corporation tax was actually made in 2023 by the previous Conservative government.