According to newly-announced figures, the female boss of one of the British largest online gambling operators was the biggest taxpayer in 2019.
As unveiled by the Sunday Times Tax List, the tax liability of Denise Coates, the founder and now-joint Chief Executive Officer of bet365, was estimated at £276 million in 2019. Ms Coates and her family owed tax bills, including the £113.2-million share they hold in the bet365 business. They also owed social security costs, as well as £130 million in tax from the £276.6 million generated by Ms Coates last year.
A year earlier, in 2018, the highest amount was owned by the sportswear boss Stephen Rubin, who received a tax bill of £181.6 million. This year, he remains second after Ms Denise Coates, having paid £143.9 million. Sir James Dyson, who was placed third in the ranking, was estimated to have paid £103 million.
As revealed by the Sunday Times, its Tax List was compiled by using publicly available documentation on tax payments in the 2018 and 2019. At the time when the list had been compiled, corporation tax, income tax, dividend tax, payroll taxes and capital gains tax had been taken into account. Still, the edition has admitted that not every pound of tax paid by the people included in the list was tracked down, and in most cases, it comes to merely the tax that could be tracked down by scanning through the publicly available financial statements.
Last Year, Ms Coates Became the Highest-Paid Director of bet365
Ranking as the biggest taxpayer in the UK is another “personal best” for Ms Denise Coates. In December 2019, it was revealed that she broke salary record. According to the then-published financial accounts of bet365, the co-founder of the online gambling business has been the highest-paid director in the firm, with a payment of £277 million, dividends excluded.
As previously reported by Casino Guardian, her total payday in 2019 amounted at £323.25 million in 2019, breaking her previous year’s record of £220 million in salary and dividend of £45 million. According to estimates, the 2019 payment received by the CEO of the online gambling giant in 2019 equals 9,500 times the average salary of the UK.
The revelations made in December 2019 fuelled some controversial reactions at the time they were made. Ms Coates was blamed for delaying the public release of her payment in order for the details to be brought into public attention after the general election. The information of the financial accounts was expected to be unveiled on or around November 20th, 2019 but instead, it was officially unveiled in December 2019. No reason for the delay was announced at the time.
As a whole, bet365 has been one of the largest and most successful gambling companies in the UK, with its latest sales records having reached approximately £3 billion. The operator, however, also been criticised for its secrecy.
- Author
Olivia Cole
