The Coates family who run gambling empire Bet365, was Britain’s biggest taxpayer last year, according to the Sunday Times Tax List.

They are among 100 wealthy individuals or families revealed in this year’s Sunday Times Tax List were liable for a total of £375m of UK tax last year.

Denise Coates, who set up Bet365 in a portable building in the Staffordshire city in 2000, received the bumper payout despite the firm making a £60m loss in the year to March 2023.

She was paid a salary of £220.6m in the year to 26 March 2023, a £7m increase on her pay the year before, according to the company’s latest accounts.

As the company’s controlling shareholder she is also entitled to at least 50% of the £100m dividend that was also paid for the year.

The £270.6m combined annual salary and dividend payout is significantly more than the total £260m she collected in 2022 and is one of the world’s biggest ever pay awards.

The Tax List rankings include corporation tax, dividend tax, capital gains tax, income tax and payroll taxes as well as gambling and alcohol duties, according to the most recently filed company accounts by January 16.