PCS: Tax officers to stage protest against cuts to services
Tax advisers are to stage a protest outside the Treasury against a further reduction in the times members of the public and businesses can receive assistance in person.
The demo, organised by the Public and Commercial Services union, will be held on Tuesday 1 June from 12pm to 2pm, outside the 100 Parliament Street entrance, London, SW1A 2BQ.
In March HM Revenue and Customs cut opening times in 58 of its 280 tax enquiry centres across the UK from 8.30am to 5pm Mondays to Fridays to part-time hours. Many are now open just one or two days a week.
This coincided with errors with tax codes sent out for the new tax year starting on 6 April, due to problems with a new computer system, and the start of the annual period during which tax credit claimants have to renew their claims.
Many customers were unable to get through on the telephone because of the high volume of callers and visited their local tax enquiry centre only to find it closed.
Now HMRC has announced plans for part-time opening in a further 117 tax enquiry centres – subject to a public consultation which closes in July – with further reductions under consideration.
Since 2006, HMRC has cut about 20,000 staff – with a further 5,000 planned to go by March 2011 – and more than 200 tax offices have either closed, are due to close or are under threat. More than 40 million calls, almost half of all calls to HMRC enquiry centres, went unanswered last year because the department does not have enough staff.
Peter Lockhart, PCS national officer for HMRC, said: “HMRC’s face to face enquiry centres deal with some of the most vulnerable people in society. These cuts will hit pensioners, tax credit claimants, migrant workers and those running small businesses.”
PCS deputy general secretary Hugh Lanning said: “Tax enquiry centres provide a last resort for people when things go wrong with their tax or tax credits, offering someone to talk to locally who can sort things out.
“The scale of the proposed cuts could mean people having to wait days or weeks for an appointment. We believe HMRC needs to halt the cuts as a matter of urgency and start re-employing staff to deal with the demand for what is a vital public service.”
The protest is being supported by the Federation of Small Businesses, which has described plans to reduce face to face opening hours as “fundamentally flawed”, adding there is no “viable alternative to properly staffed, and open, HMRC local offices”.
ENDS
Notes
– For information and interview requests, contact PCS national press officer Richard Simcox on 020 7801 2747 or 07833 978216
– The Public and Commercial Services union represents civil and public servants in central government. It has more than 300,000 members in over 200 departments and agencies. It also represents workers in parts of government transferred to the private sector. PCS is the UK’s fifth largest union and is affiliated to the TUC. The general secretary is Mark Serwotka and the president is Janice Godrich
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