Fred and Paul Done, founders of UK betting giant Betfred, have topped The Sunday Times tax list for 2025 for the first time, alongside another familiar name.
The brothers paid £400m in tax last year, nearly £70m more than the second highest taxpayer, Moscow-born trader and founder of XTX Markets, Alex Gerko.
As well as the Done brothers, the familiar name of Denise Coates alongside her brother John and father Peter, the family behind bet365, also appeared on the list with a tax contribution of £227.1m.
These figures mark a substantial change for both betting dynasties, however, when compared to 2024. The Coates paid much less in 2025 than in 2024, when the figure stood at £364m.
In contrast, the Done brothers paid £204.6m in tax for the 2023-24 period according to The Sunday Times’ tax list from January 2025. The brothers have risen up from fourth place last year to top place this year.
Source of the tax
While the Coates’ tax contribution may have dropped in 2025 according to The Sunday Times, the £227.1m figure is still a pretty eyewatering sum – and the £400m paid by the Dones even more so.
In Betfred’s case, the company’s latest filings with Companies House showed revenue of £1.45bn for the 78 weeks prior to 30 March 2025, driving gross profit of £1bn – compared to £908m in revenue and £673m in profit from the previous 53 week period.
The accounts also detailed a tax contribution of £20m in the UK, via ‘tax on income’, with a further £44.9m paid from its operations in Gibraltar, Spain, South Africa and the US, though its activity in the latter has now been discontinued.
Meanwhile, bet365’s 2024/25 financial year accounts with Companies House showed revenue of £4bn as of March 2025, driving profit before tax of £349m – though this was actually a drop on the 2023/24 profits of £349m. Operating profit was also down from £365.7m to £217m.
This is a likely explanation as to why the Coates family paid less personal tax in 2025, while the Done brothers’ soaring dividends from Betfred profits will have pushed their tax bill to the top of the UK league table.
The question remains though – will these tax contributions be repeated in 2027 and 2028? The new Remote Gaming Duty (RGD) of 40%, up from 21%, will come into effect in April 2026, and will bite into operator profits – and by extension, owner dividends and tax contributions.
The industry has argued for some time that the increase in taxes will ultimately lead to a reduced tax intake in the long-run, due to operators taking self-preservation measures. It has been argued that these measures will push customers away from betting, leading to reduced revenues, profits, and taxes.
In 2027, it can be expected that the list will remain similar as the heavier taxes on operators will lead to a more significant tax contribution – rather stating the obvious, as with rates going up the amount of tax the Dones and Coates pay will also go up.
As the industry adjusts to the new tax landscape and takes safeguarding measures, what the contribution looks like going forward is a different matter….
