The largest tax demand on record
A Railway signal tester from Bristol had a rather alarming letter from HMRC last weekend - when he received a tax bill for £14 TRILLION – very considerably more than the net worth of the UK economy. In fact, more than the net worth of the United States of America.
Stunned Giles Hembrough, 42, discovered the eye-watering mistake when he opened an ominous brown envelope from HMRC after returning from the pub last weekend.
It contained a demand for fourteen trillion, three hundred and one billion, three hundred and sixty nine million, eight hundred and sixty four thousand, four hundred and eighty nine pounds and three pence.
Giles calculated it would take him 369 million years to pay off the tax if he paid the Government his entire salary each month.
Mr Hembrough commented that
“I have had lots of tax errors recently, so I thought it was just an update.
“When I noticed the figure at the bottom I had to do a double take. I was incredibly surprised, of course, it was such a big number. I knew right away that it was a mistake.
“If it was £100,000 or even £10,000 I might have been a bit concerned that I did owe it for some reason, but the figure was so large that I knew it wasn’t right.
“I gave HMRC a ring and said to the woman that I thought my code was wrong."
Mr Hembrough has recently changed his tax code but was unprepared for the whopping 16 digit sum.
The letter from HMRC said: “Although we are changing your tax code you may still not pay enough tax by 5 April 2017.
“We think the amount you owe HMRC is £14,301,369,864,489.03.
“We will let you know if this amount is right when we look at your tax return for the year.”
Innediately underneath the massive figure in the tax demand were the words, in large letters,
which was obviously good advice. If Giles did have that kind of money to spend he could buy 46 billion iPhones, 93 million Lamborghini sports cars, or pay for Hinkley Point C nuclear power station 777 times over.
This must go down as the second most unwelcome communication anyone in Britain has received this month - after the one to Professor Alexis Jay along the lines of
"Hello this is Amber Rudd and we wondered if you would consider becoming chairman of the inquiry ..."
Stunned Giles Hembrough, 42, discovered the eye-watering mistake when he opened an ominous brown envelope from HMRC after returning from the pub last weekend.
It contained a demand for fourteen trillion, three hundred and one billion, three hundred and sixty nine million, eight hundred and sixty four thousand, four hundred and eighty nine pounds and three pence.
Giles calculated it would take him 369 million years to pay off the tax if he paid the Government his entire salary each month.
Mr Hembrough commented that
“I have had lots of tax errors recently, so I thought it was just an update.
“When I noticed the figure at the bottom I had to do a double take. I was incredibly surprised, of course, it was such a big number. I knew right away that it was a mistake.
“If it was £100,000 or even £10,000 I might have been a bit concerned that I did owe it for some reason, but the figure was so large that I knew it wasn’t right.
“I gave HMRC a ring and said to the woman that I thought my code was wrong."
Mr Hembrough has recently changed his tax code but was unprepared for the whopping 16 digit sum.
The letter from HMRC said: “Although we are changing your tax code you may still not pay enough tax by 5 April 2017.
“We think the amount you owe HMRC is £14,301,369,864,489.03.
“We will let you know if this amount is right when we look at your tax return for the year.”
Innediately underneath the massive figure in the tax demand were the words, in large letters,
"Please check this information"
which was obviously good advice. If Giles did have that kind of money to spend he could buy 46 billion iPhones, 93 million Lamborghini sports cars, or pay for Hinkley Point C nuclear power station 777 times over.
This must go down as the second most unwelcome communication anyone in Britain has received this month - after the one to Professor Alexis Jay along the lines of
"Hello this is Amber Rudd and we wondered if you would consider becoming chairman of the inquiry ..."
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