William and tax on the Duchy of Cornwall

[GardenDancing]

I keep reading that William doesn’t declare the amount of tax he pays on the Duchy of Cornwall. Apparently Charles did when he was Prince of Wales and sources say that William is paying appropriate tax, so why do you think he declines to be as transparent as his father was? I understand he isn’t obliged to share it, but people seemed annoyed and suspicious that he isn’t. If he’s paying appropriate tax like we are told, which I’m presuming is true, why wouldn’t he just share that to stop people speculating?

Surely he should share this.,

Billy Idle wants to keep his grifting private so he doesn’t declare anything he doesn’t have to. 🤷‍♀️

He can’t declare tax he isn’t paying. He’d be open to huge criticism because he probably pays proportionately very little.

He’s an entitled, lazy, grifter.

The DoC pays income tax voluntarily on the substantial income he receives from the Duchy. There is no legal obligation for him to either pay the tax or declare how much is paid. We don't demand others in prominent roles are transparent about their personal tax liability so I'm not sure why anyone would feel entitled to know how much the DoC pays. People are going to complain about how much he receives and pays regardless of whether he discloses the figure or not!

Agree @FalseSpring

I assume he thinks it's the business of HMRC and no-one else.

It's declared that he's paying tax on the Duchy of Cornwall accounts that go before the Public Accounts Committee every year, so presumably they can query that if they wish.

I suspect people who are unhappy with him would not be happy whatever amount he declared, so he may as well keep it private, as is currently his right in the UK (unlike public figures in the US).

Your point is void as other ‘high profile ‘ individuals are still subject to the law.William Windsor is not

Charles declared what he chose to declare .
Do you see how that is different from the rest of us ? Charles can pick and choose what he decides he will pay tax on . The ‘books’ are then sent on to be ‘checked’ but that is the extent of the scrutiny . IE no real scrutiny.
Some analysts guessed that Charles was paying the equivalent of lower rate tax . But of course that was based on limited information.

But William has not even extended the small amount of information that Charles has . He has basically held two fingers up to the tax payer
He’s a disgrace .

BTW for those in any doubt the Windsors do not own the crown estate nor manage it . Nor do they own the Duchys .
The rip off that the Windsors continue to perpetuate is deeply hypocritical- as they stand there wth their special ‘concerned’ face for the cameras .

Agree. William doesnt have to declare his tax but if he wants to talk about homelessness with a straight face then he should be declaring what he himself contributes in taxation to pay for things like homeless shelters, drug rehab centres, social workers salaries, local authority services, NHS etc. Turning up with George for half an hour to get other people to do something you arent doing yourself doesnt cut it really. Not to mention the Royals said they were going to pay tax in return for a more favourable deal on their taxpayer funding. We hand money over to them but dont know if they are upholding their side of the bargain. Charles is a billionnaire and paid £5m in tax. We can only presume William pays less, otherwise hed be showing off all the tax he pays. He is estimated to be richer than his father.

It’s either that he is paying less than his father did or he has no respect for the public by refusing to declare what he’s paying. He really does think it’s not our business. I think his behaviour is disgraceful.

Couldn’t agree more. Both he and Kate are lazy, entitled grifters who have been proven not to offer great value for money as working royals.

They need to step the fuck up in my opinion, or let’s just end this after Charles and agree that the idea of monarchy has had its day. No serious country should have a king (or queen). It’s all batshit.

He earns 30 million a year and doesn't pay tax, why would he want to admit that/

People are going to complain about how much he receives and pays regardless of whether he discloses the figure or not!

No, they're not. Charles has disclosed what he pays for years. Last time was £5million. I am no royalist but his transparency on that is good.

William not prepared to disclose what he pays. So I shall assume he pays very little.

We don't demand others in prominent roles are transparent about their personal tax liability

Prominent politicians have chosen to release details of their tax payments for years.

W loftily deciding he won't is yet another of the PR mis-steps he is becoming increasingly prone to.

I am not that bothered about whether William releases information about what he pays in tax. I think even if he did it's just window dressing.

I would like to see a root and branch overhaul of the royal finances encompassing the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall, the Crown Estate and anything else owned by the Monarch or administration on his behalf or on behalf of his Heir. It would also be good to be clear what is held personally and what isn't. Everything has been cobbled together over too many years and it's just not fit for purpose anymore. In the 21st Century it needs to be clear who owns every aspect, who profits from each piece and who makes the decisions on how estates are administrated. I believe that probably the rules governing Lancaster and Cornwell need updating to reflect modern sensibilities (NHS rent charges come to mind).
It won't be quick or straightforward but the Government and the monarchy need to address this.

William not saying how much tax he is paying is I think more about his determination to have privacy in his private life than anything else.

I agree. The whole thing needs a massive overhaul. But that goes into other things that need massive overhauls too- like why politicians of every colour have fallen over backwards to protect and do the bidding of the RF when their job is to hold them to account. That then goes into the Honours system, the House of Lords, the Civil Service, the police and the press in their relationship with the RF etc.
I agree William wants privacy but hes not a private individual. He get £30 m a year just because he exists. He wants what Harry wants- the Monarchy and all its trappings and benefits, but without question or scrutiny. He has plenty of privacy because he works for the equivalent of 2 months a year. The rest of that time they have plenty of privacy. They will have months of privacy now until probably after they have had at least a couple of holidays.

I don't know where the narrative comes from that William only works 2 months a year. Even a cursory look at their Instagram shows more work than that and it doesn't include much of what he is doing behind the scenes. I'm not saying he doesn't have longer holidays than me, he does, but I believe that there is an exaggerated narrative being pushed for some reason to denigrate and diminish his work that does not have foundation in fact.

it doesn't include much of what he is doing behind the scenes

Ah yes, the work behind the scenes that takes up so much of his time.

It's a very bizarre decision from a PR point of view to not do the same as his father and release the amount.

Even though it was peanuts in comparison to their bank balances Charles always appeared to come across well because it was announced he paid £5million that he didn't have to.

William is basically inviting people to question if he's decided to pay less and if so why, and why hide it? It's a really odd choice from a PR perspective.

I think the Waleses are basically Teflon for lots of people just on the basis that he plays the game and isn’t Harry. He pulls his sincere face and Catherine is ever so nice and everyone loves them. His sincere face means nothing when he doesn’t meaningfully contribute to the country that provides him his extreme privileges.

One small point here ( & I am happy to be corrected ) So profits from the Duchy of Cornwall go to the treasury. I may be being Eve Naive here but I suspect the treasury will make sure those profits are properly taxed. In the same way I bet they will have made sure H paid his costs for the Ravec case. That said If I were W I would be as transparent as the day is long. There's been enough murkiness , and if he wants to modernise my thought is transparency goes a long way.

@BasiliskStare

You are being niave and the rest of your post is pure fantasy .

William Windsor DGAF

The Duchys audit themselves . The National audit office has no right of access.

Have you read Norman Baker’s book ‘And what do you do ?’ I assume not from your post .
Baker describes ( around 20 years ago - things are WORSE with William) Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office asking to see the books. He rightly felt it was his duty to parliament . He was completely ignored .
Charles , then the Windsor trousering the untaxed millions, called the report a ‘travesty’

Royalists have no choice but to accept William’s laziness and incompetence and he knows it .

The population in general do not want him.

William might only look up from his bottle while on yet another holiday, if he ever gets word that the peasants say tax is due .

I believe part of the reason that William has refused to reveal any details of his tax is that he is filling his boots now before the right royal rip off is finally stopped .

I agree with a lot you say @Ukisgaslit

I think when William gets the top job, we will think Charles is really quite transparent because I think W is going to become more and more secretive. Because he can,

Royalists will say that William & Kate are popular, look at the polls ! This is polls of about 1-2,000 people.... 0.000001% of the population! They might be popular with royalists because royalists do royal stuff and there is no one else, and the Wales kids are cute.
I think we will look back on the days of Charles with fondness compared to William. That may sound mean, it is just my opinion.
They are all untouchable and they know it.

Fair points @Ukisgaslit and @simpsonthecat

My opinion remains that if W is to carry on he needs to more transparent - whether he will or not , I don't know. Dh is a fairly laissez faire constitutional monarchist and he said to me he thinks they have until George to become more transparent. So W needs to start.

I'd be interested UKgaslit which particular points you thought were pure fantasy - just out of interest . But entirely up to you whether you say .

All best and Happy New Year

Here’s the correction ;-)

Profits from the Duchy of Cornwall absolutely do not go to the Treasury, they go to the PoW, otherwise known as Prince William!

I had a quick look at the Duchy accounts (freely and publically available on their website), attached.

Prince William received £22.8m from the Duchy of Cornwall in the year to 31 March 2025. Although the accounting notes say he paid tax at the prevailing rate, which for an ordinary company would be 25% at this level profits, legally he doesn’t have to pay a penny, so the statement would still be accurate if he chose to do that.

Profits from The Crown Estate, which is a separate legal entity, do go to the Treasury. Interestingly, The Crown Estate owns Royal Lodge, where AMW currently lives.

The Duchy of Cornwall accounts are currently audited by an independent third party company, Safferys, I’ve attached the audit report.

However it’s important to note that for an audit:

• the auditors are only checking to see that what the organisation have told them is materially accurate
• as the Duchy doesn’t pay tax, the auditors will not look at this area at all

It's interesting, and one of a number of narratives running at the minute - see also
-poor parenting from W&C
-C exaggerating / making up her cancer

As you say, it is easy to see he does more than that narrative suggests - and simple common sense says running a Duchy takes some work, even when you also have managers (ask any CEO).

He's independently wealthy (yes, they do own their duchies, in the same way as the Dukes of Devonshire/Buccleuch etc) and is the heir, not the monarch. As long as he does the work required of him by the government, does it matter how many holidays the family take? Many wealthy people take holidays; some don't work.