PCS members held a lively protest outside HM Revenue and Customs Whitehall headquarters yesterday opposing the closure of 281 tax advice centres.
Chris Baugh, PCS Assistant General Secretary, told News Line: ‘We hope our protest will influence the board meeting today.
‘There is a proposal to close 281 HMRC Enquiry Centres which provide a free, local, face-to-face service that helps people deal with complex tax issues.
‘They help over 2.5 million pensioners, disabled, migrant workers and the self-employed.
‘It is madness when £125bn is lost to the public purse through tax evasion by the super-rich.
‘Money should be put into the HMRC to collect this tax.’
The PCS pointed out that the closure of the 281 Enquiry centres across the UK will threaten 1,300 jobs.
It would also make it harder for those who want to pay their taxes to do so.
Also, because of understaffing of HMRC helplines taxpayers will be kept on hold on a phone queuing system voted the worst in the UK.
The demonstration coincided with a meeting by senior HMRC executives to decide the fate of the UK’s 281 face-to-face tax enquiry offices.
If the offices close, the union says more than 2.5 million pensioners, vulnerable workers and tax credit claimants will lose a vital service, and the jobs of 1,300 low-paid, skilled workers will be at risk.
HMRC said last year it plans to shut all the walk-in tax advice offices and it ran a ‘pilot’ closure programme closing 13 offices in the north east.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: ‘Closing these offices would seriously undermine the government’s claim that it wants to ensure people pay their taxes.
‘Not only do the offices provide a lifeline for vulnerable taxpayers, they also provide a crucial link between our communities and the taxes we pay that fund all the other public services we all rely on.’