Why Prince William has not revealed how much tax he pays.

[ShenandoahRiver]

From Hello magazine of all places!
https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/841341/why-prince-william-not-revealed-how-much-tax-royal-finances/

William is very good at keeping things to himself. I don't think he feels it's anyone's business.

I think these voluntary payments should become mandatory even if they are the same amount. Anyone could choose not to pay what's due, and we'd not know.

That article doesn't answer the question of why he doesn't reveal what he pays though! It just says he doesn't have to. One can only presume its because he 'voluntarily' pays less than his father, who did reveal what he paid. Otherwise, why would he not reveal it?

If William wants to modernise the monarchy, the first thing he needs to do is ensure there is transparency across all the Royals finances and that they need to abide by the same rules as the rest of the country. Pay tax, unseal wills, declare if the duchies are private or public. Everything.

Then, he might get a bit more respect. Until then, no William, you aren't at all like the rest of us.

The crap the Royals have gotten away with money wise is partly down to the amount of deference there was to QEII. The government now need to grow a backbone and demand transparency.

Yes, it's outrageous with monarchy that they're fully entitled to do something, but they get to simply choose not to.

It shouldn't be a case of "Ooh, isn't he kind?!" But rather he's simply doing what everybody is legally compelled to do.

I hate the way that the monarch traditionally supposedly acts in line with what Parliament decides, but it's entirely optional and they absolutely don't have to, if they want to override it - as the late Queen did many times when influencing new laws to suit herself and her family; not to mention protecting Andrew from due legal processes.

It's perverse that we give somebody immense power - just by an accident of birth - and then rely on their goodwill, hoping that they won't actually use that power.

As we've seen recently the government has zero backbone with regard to the royal family. We'll be guided by the King...what bollocks.

If he paid a right amount (like the rest of us do) you can bet your bottom dollar we would know about it

So he obviously pays the bare minimum. I think William is going to become more and more secretive. If that's possible given the opacity now

I read in Norman Baker's book where some government minister sent a letter to Prince Charles querying something financial. Charles through his private secretary fudged the answer in his response. The minister wrote back, that he was deeply grateful for PC's response and he remains as always, his highnesses loyal servant.

I'd have to check the book for the exact wording but that's the crap the government go on with. 🙄

There definitely needs to be more financial transparency. I'm not going to make assumptions about the amount of tax William currently pays, but I do believe we should know income and expenditure figures for anything either publically owned or owned by virtue of a position (eg Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster) and that tax is being paid individually in the same way as tax is paid by any other person in that tax bracket.

I'm not sure where they think the money comes from for drug rehabilitation, alcohol support etc associated with homelessness or early years provision if they also think they should be allowed to pick and choose if they pay tax. Do they think their mates should too or is taxpaying just for the commoners? Totally agree about the government too. Stop being so bloody obsequious and do your jobs. Also nice that William can tear himself away from the school run to visit all his properties (something that personally enriches him) but when it comes to doing public duties it's beyond the pale.

His idea of modernising the monarchy seems to involve having his pick of mansions (sorry, “forever homes”), doing the absolute bare minimum of work, and maintaining total opacity regarding his finances. The more things seem to change, the more they stay the same.

Agree with this.
Royals should pay tax and there should be a lot transparency incl wills, inheritance tax etc

It shouldn't be an option for him not to reveal how much tax he pays. But logically it can't be an acceptable amount, otherwise why wouldn't he publish?

Makes you wonder if he would prefer to see the end of the monarchy, the way he and his wife do the bare minimum of work and engagements and extract the maximum from his Duchy and related perks. They certainly do not understand the concept of noblesse oblige. Therefore I would have thought it's only a matter of time before people start questioning why we need a monarchy at all.

This will certainly be the case as the older royalists die off. Society is changing, much less deferential to the Establishment, which is a good thing. Also with lots of people working hard and being squeezed to the max in tax, it doesn't sit well in my opinion. The link to tourism is a fallacy too - people come to the UK anyway for our beautiful countryside and historic buildings.

The whole idea of no IHT from monarch to heir was designed not to erode their wealth. But their wealth has grown expotentially and they can afford to pay IHT like everyone else.

I would just love to see details of their closed Wills. It would make very interesting reading
It only came about when a Monarch a century or two ago was leaving God knows what to mistresses. Time to stop this archaic practice once and for all.
Transparency please
Everyone else's Wills are available and it is 99% impossible to close your own without a lengthy and expensive court case

Who cares,millions of people don’t pay any tax what so ever!

@Winteriscoming80
A lot of people care. William is heir to the throne and will be the next Head of State.
He has enough unearned wealth and privilege as it is.

Makes you wonder if he would prefer to see the end of the monarchy, the way he and his wife do the bare minimum of work and engagements and extract the maximum from his Duchy and related perks.
I suspect if people seriously start wondering what the point of the Royals are, (especially if William intends to take all the money, the multiple houses etc and do next to nothing) suddenly Wills will start hand shaking like there's no tomorrow. His 'life's work' is to keep the Monarchy alive for as long as possible and keep his family's privilege for as long as possible. Everything they do is to stop them being deposed. Even the 'charity work'.

The exemption from IHT i think was to avoid the monarch having to sell items or estates to pay the bills as has happened to most of the aristocracy. I can see the point and i think if they want to bring in IHT for the monarch they need to first work out what is owned by the Crown, by the country and the individual. It's all a bit messy at the moment.

Society would crumble with that attitude

It makes me angry. So yes I care as I have paid a lot of tax in my lifetime. And I don't dodge what I should pay

Believe me I do get annoyed when people dodge paying tax,the self employed cash in hand,the rich putting money in off shore accounts,people claiming benefits while either working on the side or living with a partner to name but a few.

And those people can be investigated, sanctioned and prosecuted.
The RF are above the law. Which is wrong.

The Royal Family is not above the law, only the monarch. There are lots of things that need re thinking and clarifying but let's not kid ourselves that their finances are any more opaque than any other wealthy persons.

I'm convinced that a large part of the reason no one has done anything to bring clarity is that there are a lot of wealthy people who prefer the spotlight to be on the royal family rather than themselves. Let's have a root and branch rethink rather than focusing on one example.

Let’s not delude ourselves. There is no appetite to investigate anything to to with the RF at any level of police or government or HMRC.
Andrew Lownie has done great public service in publishing his book and bringing some element of daylight to bear on the inner workings.
The Mail on Sunday deserves credit too.

There isn't at the moment but that may change. I think it will start with people like Andrew, on the fringe, and hopefully spread. All royal finances need clarity and then i hope it all spreads to all finances, not just royal ones. So much good could be done in this country if we actually went after tax dodgers.

It shouldn't be an option for him not to reveal how much tax he pays.

No-one else has to reveal how much tax he pays - in the UK it's a private matter between an individual and HMRC. Some politicians decide to reveal it but they are not required to do so.
The Prince of Wales apparently pays the highest rate of income tax. He doesn't need to tell anyone that, and doesn't need to tell people how much.

I do think that paying tax on private income should be compulsory rather than voluntary for the Royal Family.

With regard to scrutiny of the finances of the monarchy: it's possible there needs to be more, or people need to be clearer about what scrutiny there is.

There is scrutiny of the Sovereign Grant by the National Audit Office and the yearly accounts are a public document. (SG Act 2011 pulled it together - previously looked at by several different departments.)
The Duchy of Lancaster accounts are presented to Parliament and are a public document (Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall (Accounts) Act 1838.)
The Duchy of Cornwall accounts are presented to Parliament and are a public document.
They are discussed regularly in the Public Accounts Committee.

I agree with this.