King Charles becomes first monarch to disclose tax payments

King Charles has become the first British monarch to make public the amount of tax he has paid, revealing a bill of £12.9 million for the 2024-2025 financial year.

The disclosed figure places the King among the UK's 100 highest taxpayers, Caliber.Az reports, citing the BBC.

According to the Royal Family's annual financial report, the Prince of Wales paid £7.76 million in tax during the same period.

The report also confirms that King Charles and Queen Camilla will remain at Clarence House instead of relocating to Buckingham Palace.

Meanwhile, the Sovereign Grant—the Royal Household's primary source of public funding—is projected to increase to just under £100 million for the 2027-28 financial year.

Financial records further show that the King paid £11.7 million in tax in 2023-24, while Prince William contributed £8.34 million over the same period.

Royal officials said the decision to voluntarily publish the tax payments of both the King and Prince William was made personally by the two royals.

Buckingham Palace said the disclosure is intended to improve transparency and "encourage wider understanding of our accountability."

Since Charles ascended the throne in 2022 and William became Prince of Wales, the combined tax contributions of father and son to HM Revenue and Customs have exceeded £50 million.

Although the newly released figures indicate that the King paid tax at the highest rate, they do not explain how the total was calculated.

Dan Neidle, founder of Tax Policy Associates, described the King's disclosure as "highly opaque".

"We don't know how much of that is capital gains tax, how much is income tax," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"Very importantly, we don't know what expenses he's deducted to come up with the figure on which he pays the tax."

The King receives annual income from the Duchy of Lancaster, an estate established to provide the monarch with an independent source of funding for both official duties and personal expenses.

The estate consists of land, property and investment holdings, generating £25.2 million in income during the 2025-26 financial year.

Additional taxable income comes from the King's personal investments and savings, as well as revenue from his privately owned Balmoral and Sandringham estates.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov