Railway worker receives letter claiming he owes HMRC £14 TRILLION in income tax
Enormous sum could be used to buy 46 billion iPhones or 93 million Lamborghini sports cars
A RAILWAY worker was stunned to receive an eye-watering income tax bill asking him to pay £14 trillion - more than the net worth of the entire US economy.
Giles Hembrough arrived home from the pub last weekend to find an ominous brown envelope containing the enormous bill.
In the letter to railway signal tester Mr Hembrough, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said: "Although we are changing your tax code you may still not pay enough tax by April 5, 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.";
The staggering amount of money could purchase the government 46 billion iPhones, 93 million Lamborghini sports cars, or pay for Hinkley Point C nuclear power station 777 times.
In longhand it is 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.
Mr Hembrough, who works in Bristol, had recently changed his tax code, but was unprepared for the 16 digit bill.
He said: "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."
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The 42-year-old has calculated that it would take him 369 million years to pay off the tax bill, if he gave the government his entire wage packet each month.
He added: "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.
"When she opened my file she said 'Oh, that is a big amount - it looks like someone has fallen asleep on the keyboard!'"
The absurd amount is more than a trillion pounds more than the net worth of America, the world’s largest economy.
Mr Hembrough is enjoying sharing the error with family and friends.
He said: “I have been showing it round. Most people just find it really funny.
“I will be checking my pay check closely though next month.”
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