Pensioner hit with £20m council tax bill

A pensioner was mistakenly sent a £20 million council tax bill from Powys County Council.

Michael Napolitano, 74, from Presteigne, received several letters saying he owed more than £6 million on each of the three properties he owns and a total of £20,290,019."I came home one day and found between 12 and 15 letters that had been put through my post by the council and when I opened them I found on three of them I owed more than £6 million," he said."I was astounded and concerned. I realised it must be a mistake and I tried to phone the council but they didn't seem to have an effective telephone. I was obviously worried and concerned so I tried again the next day."I was summonsed to court on August 18 so I attended and was met by a council official who did apologise for what had happened and we had a discussion."I came away with an agreement they were going to write to me and put it right. Then, I got a mobile call from a bailiff who collect council tax who was at my door and said he had come to collect monies and I am still not sure if it was £20 million or the correct money he wanted."I always pay a bit late, but I always pay my council tax because one has to.

"I am waiting for the correct figure and when I do I will pay the council tax."Mr Napolitano was told by the council that around 1,200 letters had been sent out in error by the local authority.The council says the error occurred when original data was misaligned with a document template, but said the correct amount Powys residents owed was also sent out to them at the end of July alongside the incorrect amounts.A spokesperson for Powys County Council said: "The county council cannot comment on an individual case; however, it can confirm a number of duplicate summonses were issued in error on July 30."The error occurred when original data was misaligned with a document template. A corrected file was produced but unfortunately both were issued."Once council became aware of this issue, the telephony system was updated with a message outlining the issue and directing customers to the correct summons document.“The council is investigating the cause of the error and will be implementing additional controls to prevent it happening again. The council apologies for any inconvenience."