HMRC told staff last week that 650 people across 70 offices in the UK will be made redundant, according to the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS). The cuts will include almost 200 administrative workers in ‘local compliance’ offices which help to ensure taxpayers pay what is due – a move which the PCS says ‘undermines efforts to combat tax avoidance and evasion’ as the cuts will mean officials in higher grades will have to spend more time on support work, such as handling post and taking deliveries, leaving them less time for their normal duties.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: ‘There is no economic sense in making damaging cuts in the department that collects and administers the taxes that fund the public services we all rely on. Collecting even a fraction of the tens of billions of pounds lost every year through tax avoidance and evasion would change the debate about public spending overnight.’
HMRC told staff last week that 650 people across 70 offices in the UK will be made redundant, according to the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS). The cuts will include almost 200 administrative workers in ‘local compliance’ offices which help to ensure taxpayers pay what is due – a move which the PCS says ‘undermines efforts to combat tax avoidance and evasion’ as the cuts will mean officials in higher grades will have to spend more time on support work, such as handling post and taking deliveries, leaving them less time for their normal duties.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: ‘There is no economic sense in making damaging cuts in the department that collects and administers the taxes that fund the public services we all rely on. Collecting even a fraction of the tens of billions of pounds lost every year through tax avoidance and evasion would change the debate about public spending overnight.’
