LONDON, June 26– King Charles III has become the first British sovereign to disclose his personal tax payment, with Buckingham Palace announcing Thursday that he paid 12.9 million pounds (about 17 million U.S. dollars) in the 2024-2025 tax year.
It is the first time that the personal tax payment of a reigning British monarch has been published.
A Royal Household statement on royal finances showed that the king paid 11.7 million pounds in personal taxes in the 2023-2024 tax year.
His total tax payments since he acceded to the throne in September 2022 have exceeded 30 million pounds.
Buckingham Palace said the figures were released alongside a new document summarizing the various sources of royal finances, as part of the Royal Household’s efforts to improve transparency.
The king’s personal income, including income derived from his personal investments and the privately owned Balmoral and Sandringham estates, is used to cover his private expenses.
British monarchs are not legally liable to pay income tax, capital gains tax or inheritance tax. However, the monarch has voluntarily paid income tax and capital gains tax under arrangements introduced in the 1990s.
King Charles III began publishing information about his tax payments when he was Prince of Wales, but this is the first time such a figure has been disclosed since he became king.
“While royal finances can sometimes appear complex, the underlying system is clear in principle, structured in law and refined over time to ensure the Monarch can serve with independence, accountability and in the long-term interests of the nation,” said James Chalmers, the keeper of the Privy Purse. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
