Tower Hamlets renter is left baffled after receiving a council tax bill for 1p -as others think of hilarious ways to pay it off
- A Tower Hamlets resident posted their Council Tax bill with £0.01 debt on Reddit
- Hundreds of Brits suggested petty ways to pay - including paying with £50 note
- READ MORE: Londoners to be forced to pay inflation-busting council tax in 2024
Fed up Brits have taken to social media to suggest hilariously petty ways for a stunned resident to settle a one pence debt to their local council.
The trivial amount owed has served as a golden opportunity for hundreds of rebellious taxpayers to bite back at rising council tax costs by proposing comedic and exaggerated methods of making payment.
In a post, uploaded to the subreddit r/CasualUK by user u/big_Gorb, the resident uploaded a photo of their Council Tax bill that had been sent through the post.
The bill was sent by Tower Hamlets London Borough Council to the property owner, whose home falls under the Band F category.
After calculating the resident's annual council tax payment - which totalled £2,283.69 from the period of April 2023 to March 2024 - the council concluded that a remaining balance of £0.01 was required to be paid.
Fed up Brits have taken to Reddit to suggest hilariously petty ways for a stunned resident to settle a one pence debt to their local council
The Tower Hamlets homeowner appeared to have been given a generous deadline to have the penny debt paid by, as the letter states payment should be made 'on or before' the first of March 2024.
Captioning their post with 'Got a 1p council tax bill today. What would be the funniest way to pay?' the resident received over 1000 comments from fed up Brits who suggested they pay the bill in the most comedic and petty of ways.
Some people amusingly suggested a slapstick form of handing over the small sum, with one writing: 'One of those massive lottery winner cheques.'
Another proposed: 'I'd say this, but go in dressed as a clown, with just the 1 pence piece.
'Hand them the paperwork and when they look at you, perplexed as to why you're paying a one penny bill, dressed as a clown, you hand the penny over and honk your nose so it makes a comedic noise.'
One individual joked: 'That or don't pay it lol and see how willing they will be to throw them in prison for a penny.'
Some suggested inconveniencing the council by paying a large amount of cash and demanding change.
One person said, 'Take the bill to the council office with a £50 note and ask if they have change,' while another wrote: 'Tape a penny to the letter, shove it in an envelope and post without a stamp. They'll have to pay for the postage.'
A third suggested: 'Pay a cheque for 2p and move out of the area so they can't apply a 1p credit on your bill, and then send them a repayment demand for 1p threatening county action if they don't pay within 14 days.'
One Reddit user, who claimed that their father was a former employee at a local UK council, explained that some councils will allegedly collect any sum of money in order to set a 'zero tolerance' standard for tax evaders.
They said: 'My dad told me he worked for a council years ago that would collect any amount of debt. Could be 1p or £2000. Their argument was that it deterred anyone from trying to avoid paying.'
