The billionaire brothers behind the gambling firm Betfred have topped the Sunday Times 2026 tax list, paying £400.1m in tax, about half of which relates to gambling duty from their betting shop empire. Fred and Peter Done head the ranking of the UK’s 100 biggest taxpayers, which includes celebrities such as Harry Styles, Ed Sheeran, Erling Haaland and Mo Salah.
Harry Styles was the highest-contributing celebrity, ranking 54th with a tax bill of £24.7m, most of which came from his touring and merchandise firm Erskine Records. Ed Sheeran paid just under £20m in tax, on a £41m dividend he received last year, and said: “I’ll always pay tax in UK coz that’s where I live.”
Erling Haaland, the Manchester City striker, is the youngest person on the list, ranked 72nd. He earns a basic wage of more than £500,000 a week plus at least £10m from image rights and bonuses, with an estimated tax bill of £16.9m. JK Rowling’s tax bill is reported to be £47.5m.
Tim Martin, founder of Wetherspoon’s, is eighth with a personal contribution of just shy of £200m. He criticised the government for adding VAT to pub meals when it is not paid in supermarkets, but said: “I can’t complain about the level of taxation really – that’s a political issue.”
The list coincides with an exodus of wealthy people from the UK, with five now resident in Jersey or Guernsey, four in Monaco and two in Portugal. However, Peter Done said: “We owe this country. 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.”
Fourteen of this year’s tax listers are now resident overseas, including Ian and Richard Livingstone, who last year quit the UK for Monaco. HMRC data indicates the highest-earning 1% contribute about a quarter of all UK income tax, down from 30.7% in 2021-22, partly due to the freezing of income tax thresholds and the departure of some wealthy people.
