Fred and Paul Done, the founders of UK betting operator Betfred, have topped The Sunday Times tax list for 2025 for the first time, after paying a reported £400m in tax over the past year.
The Done brothers finished well clear of the rest of the list, paying close to £70m more than the second-highest taxpayer, Alex Gerko, the Moscow-born founder of trading firm XTX Markets.
The latest rankings underline the continued financial scale of Britain’s largest betting businesses, with another familiar gambling name also featuring prominently among the highest personal taxpayers in the UK.
Bet365 Owners Also Feature on List
Alongside the Done brothers, the family behind bet365 also appeared on the 2025 list.
Denise Coates, her brother John Coates, and their father Peter Coates were collectively credited with a tax contribution of £227.1m, according to The Sunday Times.
While this placed the Coates family below the Done brothers in the overall rankings, it still represented one of the largest tax payments attributed to any family group in the UK for the year.
The appearance of both Betfred and bet365 ownership figures near the top of the list highlights the significant role betting firms continue to play in the UK’s tax landscape.
Year-on-Year Movement in Rankings
The 2025 rankings marked a shift for both betting dynasties compared to the previous year.
In 2024, the Coates family recorded a substantially higher tax contribution of £364m, placing them among the very top taxpayers at that time. The £227.1m figure for 2025 represents a notable reduction year on year.
By contrast, the Done brothers have moved sharply in the opposite direction. According to The Sunday Times’ January 2025 tax list, Fred and Paul Done paid £204.6m in tax for the 2023–24 period, which placed them fourth overall at that time.
Their rise from fourth place to first reflects a significant increase in their reported tax bill over the most recent year.
Betfred Financial Performance
Betfred’s most recent accounts filed with Companies House provide context for the scale of the Done brothers’ tax contribution.
The company reported revenue of £1.45bn for the 78-week period ending 30 March 2025. This compared with revenue of £908m in the previous 53-week reporting period.
Gross profit for the longer reporting period stood at £1bn, up from £673m previously.
The accounts also detailed tax payments made by the business itself, including £20m paid in the UK under “tax on income.” A further £44.9m was paid across Betfred’s international operations in Gibraltar, Spain, South Africa, and the United States.
Betfred has since confirmed that its US operations have been discontinued.
Bet365 Accounts and Profitability
Bet365’s most recent filings with Companies House covered its 2024–25 financial year, ending in March 2025.
The company reported revenue of £4bn for the period, with profit before tax of £349m. While substantial, this represented a decrease compared to the previous financial year.
Operating profit also declined year on year, falling from £365.7m to £217m.
These figures contrast with bet365’s exceptionally strong results in earlier years, which had previously driven higher personal tax payments from the Coates family.
Personal Tax Versus Corporate Tax
The figures reported in The Sunday Times tax list relate to personal tax payments rather than corporate tax alone.
In the case of betting businesses, owner tax liabilities are closely linked to dividends and other income drawn from company profits, rather than the operator’s corporation tax payments in isolation.
The movement seen in the 2025 rankings reflects changes in underlying business performance and distributions during the relevant period, rather than any single tax policy change.
Confirmed Tax Changes Ahead
While the rankings reflect past financial periods, confirmed changes to gambling taxation are scheduled to take effect in the near future.
The Government has confirmed that Remote Gaming Duty will increase from 21% to 40%, with the new rate due to come into force in April 2026.
Remote Gaming Duty applies to online gambling activity and represents a significant change to the tax framework under which UK-licensed operators operate.
How this change affects operator profits, dividends, and personal tax payments will become clearer only once future financial results are published.
Betting Sector Remains Prominent Among Top Taxpayers
The presence of both the Done brothers and the Coates family among the UK’s highest taxpayers once again places the betting sector firmly in focus.
The 2025 tax list reflects the scale of the UK gambling market and the profitability achieved by its largest operators during the relevant periods.
As future tax lists are published, changes in rankings are likely to continue to reflect shifts in company performance, tax policy, and dividend decisions, rather than any single factor alone.
