Plymouth’s retail billionaire Chris Dawson and his wife Sarah have seen their tax bill more than double to an eye-watering £43.7m, according to the latest Sunday Times Tax List.
The couple, who control The Range chain of discount stores, are placed at number 24 in the list of the top 50 highest taxpayers.
The placing, and the bill, is a huge hike on the 2021 listing for the magnate and his spouse, when they were ranked at number 46 with an estimated tax liability of £17.4m for 2020.
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This was down from £20.4m in 2019 and £25.4m in 2018, according to the Tax List, but now the couple have leaped up the rankings, which looks at figures for 2020/21.
The Sunday Times doesn’t explain the Dawson’s bounce up the chart, but in 2021 The Range saw sales leap by £352m due to being able to operate as “essential retailers” during the worst of the Covid pandemic.
The hike in earnings to £1.35bn in 2020 led to after-tax profits for the Plymouth-headquartered company jumping to £145m - more than three times the £47m profit made the previous year .
The Dawsons were also ranked at number 79 in the Sunday Times Rich List, with a wealth of more than £2bn, although it was the first time in years that their wealth had stalled.
The couple appear on the fourth Sunday Times Tax List Top 50 alongside several other South West individuals and companies which have key operations in the region.
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The list includes vacuum cleaner inventor Sir James Dyson, at number 11, whose tax liability is £101m, on a wealth of £16.3bn. Bristol-based financial services tycoon Sir Peter Hargreaves is at number 17, with the taxman claiming £65.8m, and South West born Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who studied at the University of Exeter, is at 27, with the HMRC seeking to magic £36m from her in tax.
It also includes the owners of some key West Country employers, such as Mike Ashley, whose Frasers Group Plc retail empire is a major player in Plymouth and other locations - with Sports Direct, House of Fraser, Flannels and Evans Cycles all within a few yards of each other in Plymouth city centre - and has a tax bill of £75.7m, putting him at number 15.
And brothers Sir David and Mark Samworth, whose Samworth Brothers owns pasty-maker Ginsters, with its factory in Cornwall and offices at Plymouth’s Royal William Yard, are at number 45 with a tax liability of £20.9m.
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Lisa and Tony Wilkinson, whose retail chain Wilko is a major competitor to The Range, are at number 49 with a £16.4m tax bill. The list is topped by gambling multi-billionaire Denise Coats, along with family members John and Peter Coats, whose Bet365 empire gives them a tax liability of £481.7m.
The list is compiled from liabilities for Corporation Tax, tax on dividends and payrolls, Capital Gains Tax, Income Tax and gambling duties. It is calculated on a mix of company and personal wealth.