7:30 am, February 2, 2026
The motor trade has paid almost £130m in tax over the past year, making it one of the one of the biggest contributing sectors to the public purse.
That is according to the Sunday Times Tax List 2026, which has found that, as an industry, car sales has contributed a whopping £129.3m to HMRC over the past 12 months.
The figure is enough to make the motor trade the 13th biggest contributor, representing 2.3% of all tax paid.
The industry’s biggest bill was paid by Lady Philomena Clark and her family, who coughed up a staggering £81m – up from £74.2m last year.
Lady Clark is the widow of the late Sir Arnold Clark and remains the largest shareholder in the Car Dealer Top 100 leader at the age of 79.
The dealer group posted profits of £380m profit in 2024 – more than its two nearest rivals put together – and Lady Clark was the 19th highest tax payer in the entire country as a result.
Elsewhere, former car salesman Henry Moser, who went on to offer car finance, was 25th in the list – shelling out £62m in tax.
Other car dealers to make the list included Stoneacre owner Richard Teatum, who came 70th overall with a £17.1m bill, and International Motors founder, Lord Edmiston, who paid £16m, placing him 76th.
Also making the cut were JCT600 boss John Tordoff and Park’s Motor Group founder Douglas Park, who – along with their families – paid out £14.9m and £13.9m respectively – putting them in 77th and 85th place.
Notable absentees from the list included the UK’s wealthiest car dealer – Cargiant boss, Geoffrey Warren – who came 70th in last year’s Sunday Times Rich list, with a net worth of £2.55bn.
Overall, the rankings were topped for the first time by the billionaire brothers behind gambling giant Betfred, surpassing musicians, entrepreneurs and sporting stars.
The list showed that the top 100 taxpayers paid a total of £5.758bn worth of tax, up from £4.985bn a year earlier.
Robert Watts, who compiled the list, said: ‘This is an increasingly diverse list, with Premier League footballers and world famous pop stars lining up alongside aristocrats and business owners selling pies, pillows and baby milk.
‘This year there’s been a big jump in the amount of tax we’ve identified – largely because of higher corporation tax rates.’
Six taxpayers feature on the list despite leaving the UK over the past year, amid reports of wealthy individuals moving to avoid higher taxes under Labour or due to the removal of non-dom status.
These included Revolut founder Nik Storonsky, Wren Kitchens founder Malcolm Healey and sports promoter Eddie Hearn.
Mr Watts said: ‘One in nine of the people who make the tax list are no longer listed as resident here in the UK, instead choosing to live in Morocco, Dubai, Switzerland, Cyprus, Portugal, the United States and the Channel Islands.
‘Clearly the tax listers who have moved offshore are still delivering huge sums to HM Treasury through their businesses, but the Chancellor would no doubt be raising even more money from these people had they chosen to stay put and remain liable for personal tax here.’
