For the second successive year, Ed Sheeran has been named as UK’s highest tax-paying celebrity in 2021.
Ed Sheeran is the biggest tax payer in the music business, following up his €28.2 million tax liability revealed last year with a further €12.5 million to swell Treasury coffers this year, according to the latest Sunday Times Tax List.
The ‘Shape of You’ singer paid the amount through Corporation Tax at Ed Sheeran Ltd and dividend tax on a payment of €21.35 million that he received. It sees the 30-year-old musician come in at seventh on the UK’s ‘Young Rich List’, according to the publication.
Closely behind Ed in second place is Queen Productions, who were handed a €9.1million bill following the success of their 2018 film, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. Queen Productions paid out over €15.1million in dividends to Brain May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon, giving them a bill of over €5.8million and €3.3million in corporation tax.
David and Victoria Beckham came in third with a €7.2million bill, followed by the Beatles at €4.5million and Anthony Joshua at €3.8million.
Girl group, Little Mix came in seventh on the list. The group, who announced they will be taking a break after 10 years together following Jesy Nelson quitting, are said to have a wealth of €54 million. Their tax liability stood at €2.1 million.
In eighth place on the list is Cara Delevingne. The model and actress sat on a wealth of €36 million and had a tax liability of €1.7 million.
Harry Styles, and rapper, Stormzy, were in at ninth and tenth with a €1.3million and €1.1million bill respectively.
Researcher, Robert Watts, who compiled the list, said: “We’ve all read a lot about celebrities embroiled in tax scandals over the years. But we can see there are many stars from the worlds of sports, music and entertainment who steer clear of offshore structures and avoidance schemes”.
According to Robert, it’s not just the large sums of tax Ed Sheeran and Anthony Joshua pay that are impressive. However, both are more transparent about their finances than many celebrities. Robert then noted that this is a “good habit for others to follow”.
Ed topped the celeb list after yet another successful year which saw him land numerous number ones. This year sees him embark on another huge sell-out tour.
Meanwhile, new figures released also revealed the amount paid by the 50 biggest taxpayers climbed by €500million in the past year.
Topping the list of the overall highest payers were Denise, John and Peter Coates, the family behind the ‘Bet365’ gambling empire who dished out €481.7million.
Chris Rokos, who is a Financier, is second place with €300million while Stephen Rubin, whose family is behind the JD Sports high street business and several of the leading sportswear brands, including Speedo, Berghaus and Kickers, dished out €256.1million.
The most notable of the ten new entries in this year’s Tax List is Lord Alan Sugar. The host of ‘The Apprentice’ ranks sixth following his €163.4 million tax bill.
