Skip to main contentSkip to navigation Close dialogue1/4Next imagePrevious imageToggle caption Print subscriptions Search jobs Sign in UK UK edition US edition Australia edition Europe edition International edition The Guardian - Back to homeThe Guardian News Opinion Sport Culture Lifestyle Show moreHide expanded menu News View all News UK news US politics World news Climate crisis Middle East Ukraine Football Newsletters Business Environment UK politics Science Tech Global development Obituaries Opinion View all Opinion The Guardian view Columnists Cartoons Opinion videos Letters Sport View all Sport Football Cricket Rugby union Tennis Cycling F1 Golf Boxing Rugby league Racing US sports Culture View all Culture Film Music TV & radio Books Art & design Stage Games Classical Lifestyle View all Lifestyle The Filter Fashion Food Recipes Travel Health & fitness Women Men Love & sex Beauty Home & garden Money Cars Search input google-search Search Support us Print subscriptions Search jobs Hire with Guardian Jobs Holidays Live events About Us Digital Archive Guardian Print Shop Patrons Guardian Licensing The Guardian app Video Podcasts Pictures Newsletters Today's paper Inside the Guardian Guardian Weekly Crosswords Wordiply Corrections Tips Search input google-search Search Search jobs Hire with Guardian Jobs Holidays Live events About Us Digital Archive Guardian Print Shop Patrons Guardian Licensing Erling Haaland is the youngest person on the list, paying an estimated £16.9m. Photograph: Andrew Boyers/Action Images/Reuters View image in fullscreen Erling Haaland is the youngest person on the list, paying an estimated £16.9m. Photograph: Andrew Boyers/Action Images/Reuters The super-rich This article is more than 7 months old Betfred brothers top list of UK’s biggest taxpayers with £400m bill This article is more than 7 months old Harry Styles is highest-contributing celebrity and Erling Haaland the youngest entry in Sunday Times tax list Sarah Butler Sun 1 Feb 2026 15.55 GMT Last modified on Mon 2 Feb 2026 02.30 GMT Share Prefer the Guardian on Google Tim Martin, Harry Styles, Ed Sheeran, Erling Haaland and Mo Salah are among the UK’s 100 biggest taxpayers, according to new rankings. The billionaire brothers behind the gambling firm Betfred topped the Sunday Times 2026 tax List. Fred and Peter Done paid £400.1m in tax, about half of which relates to gambling duty from their betting shop empire. View image in fullscreen Tim Martin. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA Martin, who founded the Wetherspoon’s chain, is eighth with a personal contribution put at just shy of £200m. JD Wetherspoon paid more than £1m tax a pub with the chain of 794 venues pumping £837.1m into the public finances – from levies including corporation tax, business rates, slot machine duty and VAT. Martin owns 26.7% of company shares. In an interview, the Brexit-backing businessman criticised the government for adding VAT to pub meals when it is not paid in supermarkets, but not for the size of his tax bill. He said: “I can’t complain about the level of taxation really – that’s a political issue. Parties put forward their ideas and voters decide.” The eighth edition of the list coincides with an exodus of wealthy people from the UK to offshore destinations in Europe and the Middle East. Five of the figures in the 2025 league table are now resident in Jersey or Guernsey, four in Monaco and two in Portugal. There are others based in Cyprus, Dubai and the US. However, Peter Done, 78, told the newspaper he had no plans to quit Britain. “We owe this country,” he said. “I feel there is an obligation for people that have made the money in that country to pay the tax in that country. Fred and myself are stopping here.” View image in fullscreen JK Rowling’s tax bill was reported to be £47.5m. Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA The list also includes the Harry Potter author JK Rowling, the Timpson family behind the shoe-mending empire, the tech entrepreneur James Dyson, and Douglas and Iain Anderson, whose GAP Group provides fences and loos for concerts and festivals. The top 10 features the financiers Alex Gerko, Chris Rokos and Peter Hargeaves, Mike Ashley, who founded Sports Direct, Tom Morris of Home Bargains, the Perkins family who own Specsavers and Stephen Rubin, who owns a large stake in JD Sports as well as the company behind Speedo. Fourteen of this year’s tax listers are now resident overseas, according to Companies House documents including Ian and Richard Livingstone, the billionaire brothers who own Berkshire mansion Cliveden, who last year quit the UK for Monaco. HMRC official data indicates the UK’s highest-earning 1% – those with pre-tax incomes of at least £219,000 – contribute about a quarter (26.6%) of all UK income tax during the current tax year. This has fallen from 30.7% in 2021-22, mainly because of the freezing of income tax thresholds. The departure of some wealthy people to lower-tax jurisdictions may also have contributed to the change. skip past newsletter promotion Free newsletter | Every weekday Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning Enter your email Sign up after newsletter promotion View image in fullscreen Harry Styles was the top celebrity taxpayer at No 54. Photograph: Ian West/PA Harry Styles, who announced a new album world tour in recent weeks, was the top celebrity taxpayer at No 54, paying £24.7m, according to the Sunday Times list, most of which related to his touring and merchandise firm Erskine Records. He sits 10 places ahead of fellow singer Ed Sheeran, who paid just under £20m in tax, on a £41m dividend he was paid last year. Sheeran has said: “I’ll always pay tax in uk coz that’s where I live.” Ranked 72, Erling Haaland, Manchester City’s Norwegian striker, is the youngest person to appear on the list. He earns a basic wage of more than £500,000 a week, plus at least another £10m from image rights and bonus payments. His estimated tax bill of £16.9m is less than half that of JK Rowling, whose bill is reported to be £47.5m. The tax list rankings are not a full account of all taxes paid but include corporation tax, dividend tax, capital gains tax, income tax and some payroll taxes, as well as gambling and alcohol duties, according to the most recently filed company accounts up to 10 January. Tax attributable to individuals is calculated in proportion to their share of ownership of the company in question. Personal taxation is excluded if someone is not listed as resident in the UK. Explore more on these topics The super-rich Tax JD Wetherspoon JK Rowling Harry Styles Ed Sheeran news Share Reuse this content More on this story More on this story Fund defence spending from tax rise on middle earners, thinktank tells Healey 1 Sept 2026 JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon warns UK chancellor not to hike taxes on banks 17 Aug 2026 Hospitality VAT cut: can it help the sector and at what cost to UK taxpayer? 30 Jun 2026 BA boss warns costly aviation taxes and rail tickets are stunting UK growth 7 Jun 2026 Taxes on UK workers have risen at fastest rate in rich world, says OECD 22 Apr 2026 Starmer’s ministers look at new economic blueprint to quell voter anger 20 Mar 2026 Rachel Reeves considers 20% tax on assets of people deciding to leave UK 1 Nov 2025 Rachel Reeves says those with broadest shoulders should pay fair share of tax 16 Oct 2025 Most viewed Most viewed News Opinion Sport Culture Lifestyle Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning Sign up for our email About us Help Complaints & corrections Contact us Tip us off SecureDrop Privacy policy Cookie policy Modern Slavery Act Tax strategy Terms & conditions All topics All writers Newsletters Digital newspaper archive Bluesky Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Threads TikTok YouTube Advertise with us Guardian Labs Search jobs Patrons Work with us Accessibility settings Back to top © 2026 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. (dcr)