King Charles will become the first head of state to reveal his personal tax bill, Buckingham Palace has announced, publishing his financial details for the 2024-25 financial year next week alongside other royal household reports. The move, which the palace said was intended to increase the “clarity and accessibility” of the monarchy’s finances, will see the 77-year-old monarch voluntarily disclose the amount of income tax and capital gains tax he pays on his private income, as laid out in the Memorandum of Understanding on Royal Taxation 2023 agreed by the government.
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “While this is the first time a monarch has shared this personal tax information, you may recall it was similarly released by His Majesty when he was Prince of Wales. 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.”
“King Charles will become first head of state to publish personal tax bill next week.”
The king’s private sources of income include money from investments or trading profits, funds generated by his private estates of Balmoral and Sandringham, private savings, and the Duchy of Lancaster estate — a private portfolio of land, investments and property which in 2024-25 provided him with an annual income of £26.8m. Charles voluntarily pays income tax on all his private income and capital gains tax on relevant assets.
The decision contrasts with that of his son, the Prince of Wales, 43, who has not disclosed the tax he has paid since becoming heir to the throne. William receives an income from the Duchy of Cornwall, a billion-pound hereditary estate that includes The Oval cricket ground and Dartmoor prison, providing nearly £23m in the last financial year. He voluntarily pays the highest rate of income tax once official costs have been deducted, but the amount is not disclosed.
Accounts detailing the sovereign grant, which funds the official duties of the royal family, will be published at a press briefing next week alongside a separate extensive new royal household report on the monarch’s finances. Charles’s 2025-26 tax details will be released next year when the audit has been completed.