JK Rowling pays £34.8m and Ed Sheeran pays £28.2m: Britain’s top tax payers revealed
HARRY Potter is doing a wizard job of helping to prop up the UK economy while many leading businesses were crippled by the coronavirus pandemic. Creator JK Rowling was among the super-rich paying markedly less than in previous years but she still poured £34.8million into the public purse. It is £14million down on the previous […]
HARRY Potter is doing a wizard job of helping to prop up the UK economy while many leading businesses were crippled by the coronavirus pandemic.
Creator JK Rowling was among the super-rich paying markedly less than in previous years but she still poured £34.8million into the public purse.
It is £14million down on the previous year owing to the closure of theatres and theme parks but she still earned £72.5million.
She has previously spoken out against “greedy tax exiles” and pledged all the royalties from her latest book, The Ickabog, to charities hit hardest by the pandemic.
It puts her in 23rd place in the Sunday Times Tax List 2021, which is out tomorrow.
Ed Sheeran is also doing his bit towards the economy.
The singer paid £28.2million in tax last year — enough to cover the salaries of 1,100 new teachers.
That puts him in 32nd position on the list.
Top spot goes to Bet365 founder Denise Coates and family, who paid £573million.
Glenn Gordon and family, who are behind the William Grant spirits company, are second in this year’s list with a £436.4million tax liability.
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Fred and Peter Done, the brothers behind bookmakers Betfred, came in third with a bill of £191.3million.
But the amount of tax paid by top earners fell by 36 per cent on average in 2020.
Robert Watts, compiler of the list, said: “These worrying numbers show the tax take from many of Britain’s super-rich has fallen sharply.”
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