Bernie Ecclestone’s £650m fraud payout ‘made him second biggest taxpayer in UK’
A £650m fraud settlement agreed by former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone made him the second-biggest taxpayer in the UK last year, according to the Sunday Times Tax List.
The 93-year billionaire businessman was spared jail last after admitting failing to declare more than £400m held in a trust in Singapore to the government.
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He agreed to settle £652.6m over tax he was meant to pay to HM Revenue & Customs during 18 years starting in 1994.
As a result, the tax list researchers said Mr Ecclestone was the second-highest individual taxpayer in the country.
The top slot was taken by Alex Gerko, a Russian-born financial trader and founder of XTX Markets, at £664.5m.
Third on the list were Denise, John and Peter Coates, the family behind online gambling giant Bet365. They paid £375.9m.
The gambling fortune of Fred and Peter Done and family put them in fourth place at £204.6m, closely followed by Wetherspoon founder Sir Tim Martin on £167.1m.
The youngest single taxpayer to make the top 100 list was singer Ed Sheeran, 32, who paid £39.6m to the exchequer.
The boxer Anthony Joshua was a new entry on the list this year, paying an estimated £12.2m.
The youngest single taxpayer on the list was singer Ed Sheeran
In total, the 100 individuals and families paid £5.3bn in tax – 3.3% more than a year ago.
But the bumper contributions by Mr Gerko and Mr Ecclestone are stripped out, the total from the remaining 98 entries is down by £200m – the same amount the government pledged to the NHS to boost winter resilience.
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Tax List compiler Robert Watts said: “This has been the highest taxing government since the Second World War and although the total tax take is up – it is only by 3.3%.
“Bernie Ecclestone seems to have saved Jeremy Hunt’s blushes. The total tax found in this year’s research would have been a wedge lower were it not for the vast sum shelled out by the Formula One tycoon to settle a long-running investigation.”
The researchers said that Akshata Murty, the wife of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, was liable for tax of around £4.8m after she gave up her non-dom status following political pressure. It was not enough to get her included on the list.
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“If you look at the bottom 98 in this year’s list they paid £4.03bn, £200m less than last year,” Mr Watts said.
“That’s the amount the government pledged to the NHS to boost winter resilience. Two thirds of the wealthy individuals in 2023’s Tax List were found to have paid less tax this year.
“That was usually because their businesses have reported lower profits. But lower tax receipts from the UK’s richest people may raise more than the odd eyebrow at a time when the public finances remain stretched and there is talk of budget giveaways in the air.”
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The average two-year mortgage rate has fallen below 5% for the first time since the Liz Truss mini-budget.
The interest rate charged on a typical two-year fixed mortgage deal is now 4.99%, according to financial information company Moneyfacts.
It means there are more expensive and also cheaper two-year mortgage products on the market, but the average has fallen to a near three-year low.
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Not since September 2022 has the average been at this level, before former prime minister Liz Truss announced her so-called mini-budget.
The programme of unfunded spending and tax cuts, done without the commentary of independent watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility, led to a steep rise in the cost of government borrowing and necessitated an intervention by monetary regulator the Bank of England to prevent a collapse of pension funds.
It was also a key reason mortgage costs rose as high as they did – up to 6% for a typical two-year deal in the weeks after the mini-budget.
Why?
The mortgage borrowing rate dropped on Wednesday as the base interest rate – set by the Bank of England – was cut last week to 4%. The reduction made borrowing less expensive, as signs of a struggling economy were evident to the rate-setting central bankers and despite inflation forecast to rise further.
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Bank of England cuts interest rate
It’s that expectation of elevated price rises that has stopped mortgage rates from falling further. The Bank had raised interest rates and has kept them comparatively high as inflation is anticipated to rise faster due to poor harvests and increased employer costs, making goods more expensive.
The group behind the figures, Moneyfacts, said “While the cost of borrowing is still well above the rock-bottom rates of the years immediately preceding that fiscal event, this milestone shows lenders are competing more aggressively for business.”
In turn, mortgage providers are reluctant to offer cheaper products.
A further cut to the base interest rate is expected before the end of 2025, according to London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) data. Traders currently bet the rate will be brought to 3.75% in December.
This expectation can influence what rates lenders offer.
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