King Charles becomes first monarch to reveal tax bill

King Charles has become the first monarch to reveal their tax bill, disclosing figures that show he paid £12.9m in tax for 2024-2025 The level of tax paid by the King places him among the top 100 UK taxpayers.

The Prince of Wales declared he paid £7.76m tax over the same period, the figures in the annual royal report and accounts show.

It has also been revealed that the King and Queen Camilla will continue to live in Clarence House and not move into Buckingham Palace.

Meanwhile, the accounts show that the main source of annual public funding for the Royal Household – the core element of the Sovereign Grant – will nearly double within three years to just under £100m by 2027-28.

The Sovereign Grant for 2024-25 was £86.3m, with £51.8m of it going towards core spending and an extra £34.5m funding Buckingham Palace renovations.

When this work is finished, the overall figure will fall from £137.9m to £99.9m, but this will be significantly higher than in previous years.

The grant funds the monarchy’s running costs, including staffing, travel for royal engagements and official household expenses, such as receptions and the maintenance of palaces.

Stacked bar chart titled “Overall Sovereign Grant funding drops as core amount increases.” It shows annual Sovereign Grant funding from 2021–22 to 2027–28, split into a dark purple core grant and a light purple allocation for Buckingham Palace renovations.

From 2021–22 to 2024–25, funding is unchanged at £86.3m each year, made up of £51.8m core funding and £34.5m for palace renovations. In 2025–26, total funding rises to £132.1m, consisting of £72.1m core funding and £60m for renovations. In 2026–27, total funding falls slightly to £137.9m, with £97.6m core funding and £40.3m for renovations.

In 2027–28, renovation funding ends and the grant consists solely of £99.9m core funding. Overall, the chart shows the renovation allocation peaking in 2025–26 and then falling, while core funding steadily increases, leaving total Sovereign Grant funding lower in 2027–28 than in 2026–27 despite the higher core grant.

The accounts also show the King paid £11.7m in tax for 2023-24, while Prince William paid £8.34m for the same period.

The change in publishing details of the King’s personal tax comes after calls for greater transparency around royal finances, following scandals surrounding Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

MPs raised concerns about a lack of accountability over how public funding was used by the royals, and this shift in approach in the annual Palace accounts seems to reflect the public mood for more openness.

The publication of how much tax the King and Prince William voluntarily pay was a personal decision made by both men, according to their offices.

Buckingham Palace described the move as increasing transparency and aimed to “encourage wider understanding of our accountability”.

Since the King became monarch in 2022 and William the Prince of Wales, the combined tax bill of father and son paid to HM Revenue and Customs has been more than £50m.

While the new figures show the monarch paid the highest rate of tax, they do not give any detailed breakdown of how the tax was calculated.

Dan Neidle, founder of Tax Policy Associates, said this made the King’s disclosure “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.”