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?

I think the Waleses are basically Teflon for lots of people just on the basis that he plays the game and isn’t Harry.

I agree.

As I've said before both are two cheeks of the same entitled arse.

The Duchies are privately owned

This is a fallacy heavily disputed,

I don't doubt HMRC will chase him for anything owing.

FML.

Have you not seen the Charity Commission closedowns on the Travalyst 'donation' from charitable funds, C3's staff fencing gifts and his subsequent acceptance of carriers of cash, the Met's decision there's nothing to see on MW asking his protection officer to investigate his sex accuser?!

The royals are the original defnition of escaping with a bound.

Your personal income tax information is considered private and confidential and is not a matter of public record in the UK. Only you, HMRC, and any professional tax advisor you authorise have access to your full tax details.
William is under no obligation to declare how much tax he has paid.

William is under no obligation to declare how much tax he has paid

Yes we know
But his father has for a great many years declared the tax he has paid. Not good optics for William to change that and refuse to.

@MrsLeonFarrell George III 1760 for the Crown Estate

I agree with both of you @BasiliskStare and @MrsLeonFarrell - things should be clearer.
It should be very transparent how the finances are organised, what scrutiny there is and where the government responsibility lies. It's a constitutional monarchy - the government is ultimately responsible.

Interestingly, when income tax was (re)introduced in 1842 it was Victoria who said the monarch should be paying it if everyone else was, and from what I can see at that point the monarch paid tax on private income, Civil List and Privy Purse and both Duchies were also taxed. There was some discussion with each successive monarch but only relatively minor changes until QEII.

QEII negotiated tax refunds on UK investments but it wasn't generally known until 1971 that she wasn't paying income tax on her personal income (again, the government would have known). She and the then PoW started to pay income tax in 1993 (after the 1992 Windsor fire).

It’s a strange decision to make if he is paying at least as much as his father did, so I think he must be paying less.

Do you mean from Victoria to George 6 they paid tax like ordinary wealthy people (I'm assuming some was always tied up in trusts), and it was only with Elizabeth 2 that there was no tax?

It's interesting that in 1971 when it became publicly known nothing changed, and it was only with the fire in 1992 that things changed.

I think the goverment must have been somewhat enchanted by their young queen in 1952 and, through peaks and troughs in her and her family's popularity, the government pretty much remained strong supporters of her and her wishes.

From my reading of this - section 3.4, starting page 34 (I haven't looked up all the references)

Finances of Monarchy

If the Queen did negotiate no tax to be paid, both Duchies would have been treated the same way at that point, as Charles was only 3 when she acceded (so DoC revenue goes to the monarch and SG (or Civil List as it was then) is correspondingly reduced).

I think that is the assumption people will make until he is transparent. I can’t imagine why he would decide to not share it if he is paying as much as his father was.

His decision to not declare this is strange being as his father declared what he paid previously. It does make me wonder whether he is choosing to not pay very much at all. I think not declaring shows a level of disrespect for the public.

My salary is a matter of public record. If you knew my name, you could see how much I am paid. My income tax is private. I file every year and follow US tax rules but I am not required to disclose my taxes and I won't. I deserve some privacy.

William has no privacy in his life. People have tried to hack his wife's medical records. I don't blame him for keeping his taxes private.

It’s different as William doesn’t have to pay like the rest of us do. He can choose to pay nothing or pick an amount. How lovely. If he chooses to not declare, he’ll quite rightly be criticised. Medical records should be private, no reasonable person would think otherwise, but that is not a reason for him to not declare what he pays.

That normal people who have to pay tax even when earning very little, would defend Williams right to pay no tax on the Duchy which earns him millions, and defend him not declaring what he does pay if he does pay, is 🤯

The real issue is that he shouldn’t be exempt from tax in the first place. It’s madness. Charles got praise from some people for choosing to pay but why should it be seen as a good thing that he’s only doing what the rest of us do on a lot less.

Im not saying that William shouldn't pay tax. I'm saying that it's between him and your government. I suspect he does pay tax and doesn't want to make it public.

Have you written to your elected officials and asked that it be made mandatory that William pay tax and make his tax bill public? If so, what was their response?

I wonder what Charles thinks of William’s choice not to disclose how much he pays. Would he have advised William to be transparent and William has ignored him or do they not talk about such matters? If William is paying similar amounts to his father, I do wonder what his thought process was to not follow in his fathers footsteps and be open about it.

Why did Charles feel it was in the public interest to declare his tax then? He felt it was the right thing to do. It is said he did it to ensure fairness and avoid public criticism. And the House of Commons library is quoted as saying it was to make royal finances more accountable
William doesn't have that view, he'd prefer secrecy which does not bode well for the future.

How you pay your tax over in the States is irrelevant, you are not a member of the royal family and you are not resident in the UK.

I think overall William has quite a lot of privacy in his life.

Yes, someone tried to hack his wife's medical records, but hackers have been exposing millions of other people's private medical records for years.

I think more of the public will want transparency re finances particularly with the Andrew stain.

William has no privacy in his life.

This is patently not the case when the man both can and does disappear for weeks and even months at a time for a fair proportion of the year.

I agree fully with you here @CathyorClaire.

@simpsonthecat Then you understand how I feel when I'm told the US should pay for Harry's security and put up with his attempts to undermine our First Amendment.

There is so much mis-information on this thread that I don't know where to start!

Despite what Google might tell you, the Duchies do not belong to anyone - they are entities (similar to Trusts) set up in their own right. They have no shareholders, just an appointed Council whose members are responsible for its management. The income from each of the Duchies goes to the beneficiaries, PW and PC respectively, but the monarchy has no right to the assets themselves. They then voluntarily pay income tax (not Corporation Tax) in the same way that beneficiaries of trusts pay income tax on any income received.

The Crown Estate was passed to Parliament by the monarch to manage for the benefit of the public in 1760 in exchange for an annual payment of the Sovereign grant to maintain the Royal household and palaces. The Crown Estate is fully managed by the Crown Estate Commisioners, audited and scrutinised by the Government. The royal family have no direct interest in it despite technically being the legal owners.

The finances of the Duchies and the Crown Estate are published every year and are as transparent as any other entity bound to publish audited accounts. The only lack of transparency is in the amount of income tax paid to HMRC by the Duke of Cornwall on his individual personal income (although the Duchy accounts suggest that this is in line with the prevailing rates).

I agree. He seems to get a lot of privacy.

Here's a thought...
Perhaps William is paying more tax than KC3 did.
And so perhaps William doesn't want to embarrass his father by declaring it.
And perhaps William doesn't believe, as is his right, that his private tax bill should be in the public domain.
And why is no one asking why the Dukes of Devonshire or Buccleuch or Westminster or any if the other mega rich individuals publish their tax payments?