Revealed: Who paid the most tax in 2024?
One of the UK’s richest hedge fund managers paid the most tax in the UK this year, contributing over £339m in just 12 months, according to the Sunday Times Tax list.
Sir Chris Hohn, who founded British hedge fund the Children’s Investment Fund Management in 2003, topped the list of Britain’s top taxpayers, trumping gambling heavyweights Fred and Peter Dohn, and Bet365’s Denise Coates.
The annual study, compiled by The Sunday Times, found that the 100 wealthy individuals to make the list were liable to a combined £5bn of UK tax last year.
This year’s sum total was a seven per cent drop on 2024’s list, despite a record fifteen individuals paying £100m or more in tax.
Stephen Rubin, the founder of Canterbury- and Speedo-owner Pentland Group, placed in fourth, while Mark O’Hare, the founder of Preqin, paid the fifth-most tax after selling his investment data platform to Blackrock for £2bn in July.
Notable new entries for 2025 included Ecotricity founder Dale Vince, who left school with only a couple of Es and Fs at GCSE only to become one of the UK’s most recognisable entrepreneurs.
Robert Watts, who compiled the list, said: “This year’s Tax List poses further questions for Rachel Reeves and her Treasury team. We found our 100 biggest taxpayers together contributed 7% less than in 2024.
“This was largely because many companies owned by the super rich performed less well while the economy was sluggish.
“Less than half of the people in our 2025 Tax List were found to be contributing more in this year’s rankings.”
The billionaire trader Alex Gerko – who founded XTX Markets – paid the sixth-most to the Treasury in the UK, while Frasers’ Mike Ashley, Wetherspoons’ Sir Tim Martin, AB Food-owers the Weston Family and Home Bargains’ rapidly successful founder Tom Morris made up the rest of the top 10. Each paid between £149m and £202m.
The rankings comprise taxes paid across individuals’ personal and business interests, including corporation tax, dividend tax, capital gains and income tax; as well as some gambling and alcohol duties.
At 33 years’ old, Ed Sheeran was the youngest taxpayer to make the list, contributing £19.9m to the Exchequer across 2024.