JK Rowling and Ed Sheeran among the biggest taxpayers in the UK

Singer-songwriter was the youngest figure on the Tax List, having paid himself more than £80m in 2023 following his latest world tour

JK Rowling and Ed Sheeran are among the 100 British figures who have paid more than £10m to the public finances in the latest tax year.

The Times has released its 2024 Tax List, which features stars from the music industry and the arts, billionaire aristocrats and car dealers, scrap metal merchants and gambling tycoons.

From the world of entertainment, Harry Potter author JK Rowling was 31st on the list, who paid 40m in tax after the release of another Fantastic Beasts film in 2022, a computer game named Hogwarts Legacy and more stories for her character detective Cormoran Strike.

The youngest figure on the Tax List was singer-songwriter Sheeran, who paid himself more than £80m, after having toured extensively over the past year on his Mathematics world tour, paying £39.6m in tax.

Both were among those found to be paying significantly more tax than last year; Rowling’s tax contribution in last year’s tax list had dropped to £15m.

JK Rowling at the premiere for ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore’ in 2022

(AFP via Getty Images)

Meanwhile, heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua took 88th place on the list, having paid £12.2m in tax, according to The Times.

Last year, former The Police frontman Sting made his debut on the tax list, in 51st place, having paid £25m in tax after he sold his back catalogue to Universal and made earnings from selling wine.

This year’s research found that a hundred individuals and families paid £5.353 billion of tax – 3 per cent more than a year ago.

Ed Sheeran paid £39.6m in tax, according to The Times

(Getty Images)

Construction was the best-represented sector of the economy in the Tax List, accounting for 12 of the entries. Property businesses made up nine of the entries, including the dynasties of Earl Cadogan and the Duke of Westminster. Meanwhile, retail also made up nine of the entries, while the car sales and finance sectors made up eight of the entries each.

Among the 18 women who appeared on this year’s rankings were gambling company Bet365 founder and billionaire Denise Coates, Specsavers co-founder Dame Mary Perkins and retailer and The White Company founder Chrissie Rucker.

Tax List rankings include corporation tax, dividend tax, capital gains tax, income tax, employer’s national insurance tax as well as gambling and alcohol duties, according to the most recently filed company accounts by 16 January.