- Ecclestone settles £650m tax fraud
- Top taxpayers listed, revenue up
- Wealthy’s tax contributions decrease
A 93-year-old billionaire businessman was spared prison for failing to disclose to the government his ownership of a Singapore trust worth over £400 million.
The Sunday Times Tax List named former Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone as the United Kingdom’s second-largest taxpayer in 2018, following a £650 million fraud settlement.
He agreed to pay HM Revenue & Customs a settlement of £652.6 million for unpaid taxes over eighteen years starting in 1994.
According to the tax list researchers, this settlement placed Mr. Ecclestone as the nation’s second-highest individual taxpayer.
Alex Gerko, a Russian-born financial trader and owner of XTX Markets, topped the list with £664.5m.
Denise, John, and Peter Coates, founders of online betting giant Bet365, were third, paying £375.9 million.
Fred and Peter Done and their family were fourth with a gambling fortune of £204.6 million, closely followed by Sir Tim Martin, owner of Wetherspoon, with £167.1 million.
Among the top 100 youngest single taxpayers was 32-year-old singer Ed Sheeran, who contributed £39.6 million.
Tax Contributions of UK’s Wealthiest
Boxer Anthony Joshua joined the list this year with an estimated £12.2 million.
The 100 individuals and families collectively paid £5.3 billion in tax, up 3.3% from the previous year.
However, excluding Mr. Ecclestone and Mr. Gerko’s contributions, the total from the other 98 drops by £200 million, the same amount the government allocated to the NHS for winter resilience.
The Tax List compiler Robert Watts noted, “This government has imposed the highest taxes since World War II. Despite a 3.3% increase in overall tax revenue, it remains the highest since then.”
He added, “Bernie Ecclestone’s payment spared Jeremy Hunt’s blushes.” Without Ecclestone’s substantial settlement, this year’s total tax would have been slightly lower.
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Akshata Murty, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s wife, faced a tax liability of approximately £4.8 million after relinquishing her non-dom status amid political pressure. However, this didn’t place her on the list.
Mr. Watts said this year’s bottom 98 paid £4.03 billion, £200 million less than last year.
The government’s NHS winter resilience fund matched this amount. Two-thirds of the wealthy on the 2023 Tax List paid less tax this year, often due to reduced company profits.
This decrease in tax revenue from the UK’s wealthiest, when public finances are stretched, and there is talk of budget giveaways, may raise concerns.
