A BUILDER may have to construct a bigger letterbox after he was sent 101 fixed penalty notices from the taxman by mistake - and he will now receive a further 101 responses correcting the error.
Julian Harrison, of Station Road, Nafferton, was baffled when he found 101 envelopes from HM Revenue and Customs sitting on his doormat on Wednesday morning, after they had arrived through his letterbox in one swoop.
Each envelope contained a £100 fixed penalty notice for failing to submit a contractor's return, taking the total fine for Mr Harrison up to a staggering £10,100, but he quickly realised it was a mistake.
"As soon as I saw them all I knew it was a mistake. I would have been just as angry if I had just received one, it's the fact that they can't seem to sort their administration out, this is obviously a computer glitch," Mr Harrison said.
Mr Harrison, who runs his own construction company, used to be registered under the HM Revenue and Customs Construction Industry Scheme (CIS).
He employed several labourers and always submitted his monthly CIS returns on time but he filled in his last return over a year ago after deciding to go it alone.
Mr Harrison said: "Shortly after I stopped being an employer I contacted them because they sent me a letter by mistake. They checked and said I was no-longer registered as a contractor so I knew I was off the system then but now a year on this has happened."
"I have been in the construction industry for 18 years and this is the first time they have made a mistake like this," he added.
After speaking with a customer services representative it was discovered that Mr Harrison was still registered as a contractor by mistake but the matter has now been resolved and 101 written responses will be sent out cancelling each fixed penalty.
Mr Harrison said he was told to throw all the letters in the bin but he believes the whole situation has wasted people's time, effort and has generated a lot of waste paper.
"I'm annoyed, it's a nuisance," he said.
"It's extra work for the sorting office, it's extra work for the post lady and you don't know if it's happened to anyone else," he added.
A spokesman for HM Revenue and Customs has apologised for any inconvenience the situation has caused.
"We do our utmost to provide the best customer service that we possibly can," he said.
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