Another proof of how good last year was for online gambling comes from Great Britain. The head of online gaming and betting giant, Bet365, Denise Coates, is the nation’s biggest taxpayer for the year 2021.
According to the Sunday Times Tax List, the Coates family paid an estimated £481.7 in taxes last year. The family owns and runs the Bet365 gaming company. This is the third year in the row for the gaming moguls at the top of the taxpayer’s list. Still, this year’s tax payment is somewhat down from the year before. In 2020, the Coates family paid a whopping £573 million. Nevertheless, it’s still enough for an undisputed first place on the list with almost £200 million more paid by Chris Rokos who is the runner-up on the Sunday Times list. The hedge fund manager paid taxes for the last year in the amount of around £300 million.
The amount the top 50 taxpayers paid in total taxes this year is up from the previous year. In 2020, the total amounted to £3.2 billion, and this year, it’s increased by £510 million to £3.7 billion. Also, the minimum amount of tax paid required to make the top 50 is now £15.2 million, a 16% uptick compared to the previous year.
Some feel that this is good news and with the state’s take over £500 million. Others think that the list is proof of broken tax legislature in the United Kingdom. They claim it allows the richest to pay little or no tax at all, especially taking into account how much they earn on yearly basis. Furthermore, they note that there is only one name that appears on both the list of the richest people in the UK and on the one detailing the biggest taxpayers. Opponents of the current tax system, such as the IPPR think tank, feel that the wealthiest should also carry the most burden when it comes to taxes. This is especially important since the UK tax system supports the NHS and the welfare safety nets. As things stand, some people, that are among the richest, contribute close to nothing through their taxes.
The Weston family, with an estimated fortune of £11 billion, are the only ones from the top 10 richest list that are also in the top 10 in taxes paid. Denise Coates, the head of Bet365, who tops the list of highest taxpayers, is only the 17th richest person in the UK. Her estimated worth is £8.4 billion. Last year, she paid herself £421 million, totaling her pay since 2016 to more than £3.1 billion. The rest of the names on the top taxpayer list also show a similar discrepancy in the money earned and taxes paid.
The most famous person on the list is J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter book series. She paid £36 million this year, totaling her tax bill to £119.4 million over the last three years. However, the famed author supports tax reform and, unlike many of her counterparts, pays full taxes in the UK. She criticized “greedy tax exiles”, noting that she would never opt for living in some tax haven.
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Brian Jeacoma 
February 2, 2022 
