Britain's King Charles to reveal personal tax bill: reports

LONDON: King Charles III will reveal his personal tax bill in a bid to improve transparency, Buckingham Palace told UK media on Saturday, as royal finances come under increasing public scrutiny.

British monarchs are legally exempt from paying certain taxes, though they have paid some duties on a voluntary basis for decades.

They also have no obligation to disclose their tax bills, but recent scandals surrounding the disgraced former prince Andrew have thrust the royal family’s finances into the spotlight.

Charles will become the first monarch to share his personal tax information, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson told the Press Association.

“The decision to do so as Sovereign has come at the express wish of the King himself, as part of the adaptations carried across since accession,” the spokesperson said.

“Our aim is to explain all elements of royal finances in a way that further enhances clarity and accessibility, while also placing it in its historical and constitutional context.

“To put it simply: we continue to modernise and evolve.”

Charles’s tax information will be shared on Thursday as part of the annual royal financial accounts, the BBC reported.

Under British law, monarchs do not have to pay income tax, capital gains tax or inheritance tax.

However, since 1993 and starting with the late Queen Elizabeth II, they have voluntarily paid the first two.

Before Charles ascended the throne in 2022, he also disclosed how much tax he paid when he was Prince of Wales.

The royal family has sought to repair its image since the damaging revelations that Andrew, Charles’s younger brother, had ties to the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Government auditors revealed this month that Andrew earned a private income from subletting cottages while paying a symbolic “peppercorn rent” for a mansion for more than two decades.

The UK Treasury allocates an annual payment known as the Sovereign Grant to cover the royal family’s official duties.

Sources of the monarch’s private income include the historic estate of the Duchy of Lancaster, which is a large, diversified portfolio of land, property, and investments.

The Duchy of Lancaster estate provided the King with an annual income of 26.8 million pounds ($35.6 million) in 2024-25.