Bet365’s Denise Coates Still Top Tax Payer in the UK

Bet365’s founder, Denise Coates is the largest taxpayer in the UK, according to annual figures in a list by the Sunday Times. Ms. Coates paid more than £573 million in taxes last year, while the family’s worth was estimated to be more than £7.1 billion.

Bet365 Founder Remains the Largest Taxpayer in the UK

For the second year in a row, Denise Coates, Bet365 founder is UK’s largest taxpayer. According to annual figures in a list, revealed by the Sunday Times, Bet365 owners Denise, John, and Peter Coates paid more than £573 million in tax last year. Furthermore, the family’s worth was estimated to be more than £7.1 billion.

Focusing on the bigger picture, in 2020, the top taxpayers in the UK paid £680 million more when compared to 2019, reaching £3.18 billion in total paid tax. This marks a 27% increase in paid taxes from £2.5 billion in 2019. However, one of the reasons for the increase in total paid tax was changes to the methodology of the list adding gaming duties as well as dividends to shareholders.

The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is evident judging by the minimum tax which is needed to enter the list of top 50 taxpayers in the UK. In fact, in 2020, the wealthy people needed £13.1 million in paid taxes to make it to the list. In comparison, back in 2019, this minimum was £20.4 million which represents a decrease of 36%.

More Wealthy People That Made It to the List of UK’s Largest Taxpayers

Second on the list with £436.4 million in paid tax was the Gordon family, which is behind the independent, family-owned William Grant & Sons company that distills Scotch whisky and other fine spirits.

Fred and Peter Done, brothers and Betfred co-founders took third place on the list. In 2020, the Done brothers paid £191.3 million and their wealth is estimated at £3.1 billion.

Focusing on entertainment, JK Rowling, the author behind Harry Potter, paid £34.8 million in taxes for 2020. Ms. Rowling reached the 23rd position in the list, down from 19th in 2019 when she paid £48.6 million tax.

New to the tax payer’s list is the world-famous music artist Ed Sheeran. He reached 32nd place in the list, having paid £28.2 million in tax in 2020.