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Daily Mirror

Business

Levi Winchester

UK's biggest taxpayers revealed as £8billion betting boss loses crown - see full list

Alex Gerko Denise Coates Tim Martin Peter Coates United Kingdom Sunday Times Ben Francis John Martin John Murphy Mike Ashley

The 100 biggest taxpayers in the UK have been revealed - with Russian-born billionaire Alex Gerko taking the top spot from betting tycoon Denise Coates.

Gerko, 42, who founded trading company XTX Markets in 2015, paid an estimated £487.4million in tax.

This is up from the £117.4million he paid the previous year, when he ranked in tenth place.

Math whizz Gerko, who has been a British citizen since 2016, is said to be worth £2billion now and began his career trading shares at Deutsche Bank.

He knocks Denise Coates, head of gambling empire Bet365, her brother John and father Peter Coates - worth a collective £8.6billion - off the top spot for biggest taxpayer, according to the Sunday Times Tax List.

The Coates family were the second biggest taxpayers this year, down from first place in 2022, having forked out £460.2million.

Alex Gerko paid an estimated £487.4million in tax (@AlexanderGerko/Twitter)

Wetherspoon founder Tim Martin paid £123.2million (PA)

In third place was Stephen Rubin and family, owners of sport and fashion brands Speedo, Kickers and Berghaus, who paid £392.3million in tax.

Ben Francis, the chief executive of athletics and leisure brand Gymshark, is the youngest person to appear with his contribution to the public finances standing at £11.6 million.

Other notable names on the list include retail tycoon and Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley who paid £133.5million and came in sixth place.

JK Rowling paid £15million (Getty Images for Warner Bros.)

Sting paid £25million (AFP/Getty Images)

Wetherspoon founder Tim Martin was next in seventh place, paying £123.2million in UK tax.

The pub chain chairman told The Sunday Times it was "vitally important" that more companies reported all the tax they paid.

He added: "Without this perspective people may become more cynical about free enterprise, which is the vital engine of prosperity, and thereby freedom, for democratic societies."

Ben Francis is the youngest person to appear (@BenFrancis/Instagram)

In total, the 100 wealthy individuals or families who appear in the Sunday Times Tax List were liable for a total of £5.181 billion in tax.

Each person or family who ranked paid at least £10.7million either personally or through their businesses.

The fifth edition of the Tax List was released as millions of people race to meet the self-assessment deadline.

Tom Morris and family paid £112.2m (Internet Unknown)

Robert Watts, the compiler of The Sunday Times Tax List, said: “You will find celebrities on the Tax List but many of the entries are people who quietly run largely unheralded businesses that have been creating jobs and paying millions of tax for decades or even centuries.

“So-called ‘unicorn’ tech firms may dominate the headlines, but they often aren’t cash cows for the Treasury because they don’t employ large numbers of people or show big profits. It’s the long-established retailers, pub groups and other bricks-and-mortar businesses that often contribute more.

“There lies the challenge for the chancellor and his successors. As our economy inevitably shifts further and further online, how do we continue to fund the public services we all want?”

He added: “Alex Gerko’s story is an extraordinary read. This was a man who could have been one of Russia’s greatest wealth creators — instead he is creating jobs and paying his tax here.

“Enticing the super-rich to London doesn’t always pay dividends for the public finances. In his case it certainly has.”