UK’s top 100 taxpayers revealed: No.1 on the list is not Ed Sheeran or JK Rowling, it is someone known to Rishi Sunak

The United Kingdom’s (UK) top 100 taxpayers list revealed that the number one taxpayer in the country is not amongst the top celebrities like Ed Sheeran or JK Rowling, it is someone know to former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, reported the news portal The Sunday Times (UK). 

According to the news report, Sir Chris Hohn topped the 100 taxpayers list in the UK. Hohn was once Rishi Sunak’s boss who now ranks top on the leaderboard of 100 individuals and their families who have at least paid 10 million pounds to HMRC.

HMRC is the abbreviation of Her (or His) Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, a government department that administers and collects major direct taxes, like income tax, corporate tax, capital gains tax, etc. 

Who is Sir Chris Hohn?

Sir Chris Hohn is a billionaire hedge fund manager who topped The Sunday Times’s Tax List for the year 2025. He is the son of a Jamaican car mechanic and contributed nearly 1 million a day to Rachel Reeves’s beleaguered public finances, as per the report.

Features on Top 100 List

According to the news report, the new entries to the list include green energy entrepreneur Dale Vince, UK’s largest manufacturer of pillows, a Swansea-based car dealer, a couple who became billionaires overnight, the owner of Stockport County Football Club, the founder of CV-Library Lee Biggins, and the rock band Queen. 

Tax List regulars like JK Rowling at 47 million pounds and Ed Sheeran at 19.9 million pounds are joined by rock band Queen at 7.7 million pounds and up to 4.1 million pounds of corporate tax. 

Dame Margaret Barbour made her debut on the list with 25.3 million pounds, JD Wetherspoon founder Sir Tim Martin ranked No. 8 with 170 million pounds contribution. 

Alex Langsam, the owner of Britannia Hotels, with 12.5 million pounds of contribution, and Graham King, an entrepreneur with a 28.9 million pound corporation tax bill, were amongst many others, as per the report. 

Findings of the List

The Sunday Times Tax List shows who contributes the most to the country’s tax collection and is published before the self-assessment deadline next Friday, and at a moment of intense pressure for the chancellor, as per the news report.

The list found that total tax collection for this year was just under 4.985 billion pounds which is 6.8 per cent lower than the 2024 rankings. This smaller collection is partly attributed to the sluggish economic growth of the country, according to the report. 

Last year’s list values were also inflated because of one 652.6 million pounds payment by formula one billionaire Bernie Ecclestone to settle a protracted fraud case, as per the report.

• 15 individuals and families incurred tax liabilities of more than 100 million pounds; this number of people is higher than the 2024 level of nine people.
• Less than half of the year’s entries, which is 46 were found to be paying more in the 2025 list compared to that of last year.
• Each of the individuals or families on the list had to have paid 10.5 million pounds to attain a place on the Tax List. This figure is 500,000 pounds more than that of in 2024.
• Construction was the best-performing sector for the list, adding 11 members to the list.
• 21 entries were from London, 11 were from South East of England, 14 from the Midlands, 13 from the North West, Nine from Scotland, and eight from the South West, according to the news report.
• The 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, as of the most recent financial statements filed by January 10, 2025. 

Disclaimer: Absence from the Tax List does not imply individuals are not paying their UK taxes.