King Charles ‘one of UK’s top taxpayers’

By Tony Jones

King Charles has made history by becoming the first monarch to release their tax payments, revealing he was among the UK’s top 100 taxpayers in 2024-25.

Charles has taken the step of publishing his payments to HM Revenue and Customs in a bid to aid clarity and accessibility around royal finances.

William, the Prince of Wales initially resisted releasing his own tax payments when he became heir to the throne and took on the Duchy of Cornwall, but has released his financial data as a string of royal reports were published.

Since Charles became King following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022 he has paid more than Stg 30 million ($A57 million) in tax, while William has made payments of more than Stg 20 million ($A38 million) in tax since becoming the Prince of Wales.

James Chalmers, Keeper of The Privy Purse, said: “When (he was) Prince of Wales, His Majesty disclosed his tax, and he has asked that we make public his combined income and capital gains tax payments as king.

“Today I can share with you that His Majesty’s tax payable for 2024-25 was Stg 12.9 million.

“If annual media league tables are to be believed on such matters, that places His Majesty among the top 100 taxpayers in the country for that year.

“I can also share with you that His Majesty’s tax payable for 2023-24 was Stg 11.7 million and the total amount of tax payable by His Majesty since accession to the throne is more than Stg 30 million, all of this, remember, on a voluntary basis.

The tax payable for 2025-2026 was not yet available, Chalmers said.

Charles voluntarily pays income tax on all his private income, capital gains tax on relevant elements of his assets, and inheritance tax under arrangements agreed by the late Queen that first came into effect in 1993.

The King’s private sources of income could include money from investments or trading profits, funds generated by his private estates of Balmoral and Sandringham, and private savings.

The Duchy of Lancaster estate, a private portfolio of land, investments and office, retail and industrial properties, also provides the King with an annual income which in 2025-26 was Stg 25.2 million.

It was designed to give the monarch of the day an independent source of income, historically known as the Privy Purse, used for both official and private expenditure and for meeting the expenses of other members of the royal family.

William receives an income from the Duchy of Cornwall, a billion-pound hereditary estate featuring The Oval cricket ground and providing the heir to the throne with funds, independent of the monarch.

He pays tax voluntarily on this income, Stg 21.6 million from the duchy during 2025-26, that is not used to meet official expenditure.

During the 2024-25 financial year his tax bill was Stg 7.76 million in income and capital gains tax and was Stg 8.34 million  in 2023-24.