JK Rowling and Ed Sheeran among UK's highest tax payers

JK Rowling and Ed Sheeran are among the UK’s top tax payers, with the top 100 contributors collectively paying £5.35bn in taxes last year, as ranked by the Sunday Times.

The 100 contributors, ranked by the Sunday Times, were judged to have paid £5.35bn in tax last year.

According to the Sunday Times rankings, the top 100 contributors collectively contributed £5.35 billion to public finances in the past year. The newspaper calculated taxes paid on various income sources such as business profits, share sales, dividends, property transactions, and personal income.

Approximately two-thirds of those on the list paid less tax in 2023 compared to the previous year. Alex Gerko, a financial trader originally from Moscow, claimed the top spot on the index. Following him were Bernie Ecclestone, the former Formula 1 chief executive, and Denise Coates, the CEO of the gambling firm Bet365.

Ecclestone entered the list after paying £650 million in taxes and penalties to HMRC to avoid imprisonment. The 93-year-old had failed to disclose over £400 million held in a trust in Singapore when questioned by tax authorities in 2015.

As the leading taxpayer, Alex Gerko paid an estimated £664.5 million in taxes for the 2023 financial year, which amounts to over £1.8 million per day. Gerko, who founded the algorithmic trading firm XTX Markets, renounced his Russian citizenship and obtained British nationality in 2016.

Robert Watts, the compiler of the list, described Gerko as a “rock star” in the realm of algorithmic trading. Despite paying approximately £4.8 million in taxes, Akshata Murty, the wife of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, did not meet the minimum £10 million threshold to qualify for the list.

In 2022, Ms. Murty, the daughter of an Indian IT billionaire, consented to adhere to UK tax regulations by declaring her intention to pay taxes on all her earnings within the country, following the disclosure of her “non-dom” status, which implied she had not been paying UK taxes on income earned overseas.

JK Rowling, the famous author of the Harry Potter series, and Ed Sheeran, the chart-topping musician, are not only dominating their respective fields but also making sure that they are giving back to the community through their taxes. It goes to show that no matter how successful you are, paying taxes is just part of being a responsible citizen. It’s always encouraging to see public figures using their success to make a positive impact on the society. Kudos to JK Rowling and Ed Sheeran for setting a great example!