A recent report by the Sunday Times looked at the people who pay the most taxes in the UK. They ranked 100 individuals based on how much they contribute to public finances. This includes things like tax on business profits, share sales, and personal income. The report found that two-thirds of the people on the list paid less tax in 2023 compared to the previous year.

The person who paid the most tax was Alex Gerko, a billionaire and financial trader. He paid around £664.5 million in taxes for the year. Gerko is known for starting a trading company called XTX Markets. Other famous names on the list include Bernie Ecclestone, the former boss of Formula 1, and Denise Coates, who runs a gambling company called Bet365.

The report also mentioned that some people on the list shared their tax information with the newspaper. However, the government agency that deals with taxes doesn't comment on individual cases, so we can't be sure if the estimates in the report are accurate. The list showed that many of the top taxpayers live in London and the south-east of England.

The report also mentioned some celebrities who made the list. Author JK Rowling paid £40 million in taxes, while singer Ed Sheeran paid over £36 million. Even heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua paid more than £12 million in taxes. The report ended by saying that the Hinduja family, who were the richest people in the UK last year, didn't make the tax list because their wealth comes from businesses outside of the country.

Original news source: JK Rowling and Ed Sheeran estimated to be among UK's highest tax payers (BBC)

– News Summary
Instructions: In pairs, read the article and summarize the main points in 3-4 sentences. Share your summaries with the class and discuss any differences or similarities.
– Opinion Poll
Instructions: Write three statements related to the article on the board, such as "The wealthy should pay more taxes," "Celebrities should not have to disclose their tax information," and "Tax evasion is a major problem." Have students stand on a spectrum from strongly agree to strongly disagree based on their opinions. Give them a few minutes to discuss their reasoning with a partner before sharing with the class.
– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions: Divide the class into two teams. Give each team a set of vocabulary words from the article (e.g. billionaire, taxes, estimate, gambling). One person from each team comes to the front and must draw a picture to represent one of the words. The team members must guess the word within a certain time limit. The team with the most correct guesses wins.
– Headline Creation
Instructions: In pairs, students create a catchy headline for the article. Encourage them to be creative and use vocabulary from the article. After a few minutes, have pairs share their headlines with the class and discuss which ones they find most interesting or attention-grabbing.
– Future Predictions
Instructions: In small groups, students discuss and make predictions about the future of taxation and the wealthiest individuals in the UK based on the information in the article. They can consider questions like: Will taxes continue to decrease for the wealthy? Will there be more transparency in tax reporting? Will new celebrities and businesspeople emerge on the list? Each group presents their predictions to the class and engages in a discussion.

A recent report by the Sunday Times looked at the people who pay the most taxes in the UK. They ranked 100 individuals ? on how much they contribute to public finances. This includes things like tax on ? profits, share ?, and personal income. The report ? that two-thirds of the people on the list paid less tax in 2023 compared to the previous year. The person who paid the most tax was Alex ?, a billionaire and financial trader. He paid around £664.5 million in taxes for the year. Gerko is known for ? a trading company called XTX ?. Other famous names on the list ? Bernie Ecclestone, the former boss of Formula 1, and Denise Coates, who runs a gambling company called Bet365. The report also mentioned that some people on the list shared their tax ? with the newspaper. However, the government agency that deals with taxes doesn't comment on individual cases, so we can't be sure if the estimates in the report are ?. The list ? that many of the top ? live in London and the south-east of England. The report also mentioned some celebrities who made the list. Author JK Rowling paid £40 million in taxes, while ? Ed Sheeran paid over £36 million. Even heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua paid more than £12 million in taxes. The ? ended by saying that the Hinduja family, who were the ? people in the UK last year, didn't make the tax list because their ? comes from businesses outside of the country.

1. What is a billionaire?
2. How do you think it feels to pay £664.5 million in taxes?
3. Do you think it's fair that some people on the list paid less tax than the previous year? Why or why not?
4. How would you feel if you were a celebrity and had to pay millions of pounds in taxes?
5. Do you like Formula 1? Why or why not?
6. What is a trading company?
7. How do you think it feels to be one of the top taxpayers in the UK?
8. Do you think it's important for wealthy individuals to pay a lot of taxes? Why or why not?
9. How would you feel if you were a famous author like JK Rowling and had to pay £40 million in taxes?
10. Do you like gambling? Why or why not?
11. How do you think it feels to be a celebrity and have your tax information shared with the public?
12. Do you think it's fair for celebrities to pay more taxes than average people? Why or why not?
13. How would you feel if you were a heavyweight boxer like Anthony Joshua and had to pay over £12 million in taxes?
14. Do you think it's fair that the Hinduja family didn't make the tax list because their wealth comes from businesses outside of the country? Why or why not?
15. How do you think it feels to be one of the richest people in the UK?

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