Extinction of the tax office

Regional tax centres will see closure of 170 HMRC offices

Within 10 years HMRC plans to close all of its 170 local tax offices across the UK as part of a major reorganisation programme that will provide the department with a saving of £100 million by 2025. They will be replaced by 13 new regional centres, staffed by between 1,200 – 7,500 people, and located as follows:

• Newcastle – North East
• Manchester and Liverpool – North West
• Leeds – Yorkshire and Humber
• Nottingham – East Midlands
• Birmingham – West Midlands
• Cardiff – Wales
• Belfast – Northern Ireland
• Glasgow and Edinburgh – Scotland
• Bristol – South West
• Stratford and Croydon – London, South East and East of England

These 13 hubs will be supported by 4 specialist sites at Telford, Worthing, Dover and the Scottish Crime Campus in Gartcosh.

Last week the Daily Telegraph reported that some towns and cities across the country will be without a tax office. In particular, there won’t be an office in south west England west of Bristol and little or no coverage in East Anglia.

Thousands of the Revenue’s 56,000 staff will face long term redundancy, with some already being told last week, according to the Telegraph. Others will be expected to travel or change roles.

Last year HMRC closed the last of its 281 walk-in centres thereby depriving 2.5 million people of face-to-face help which in turn places further pressure on the departments failing telephone services.

Public Accounts Committee chair, Meg Hillier, told the Telegraph, “It is difficult enough getting through on the phones and getting that one-to-one advice. This upheaval, at the very least in the short term, will promise more difficulties.” She also voiced concern that many experienced tax officers may choose to leave the Revenue rather than relocate to one of the 13 new hubs.

The wholesale changes are part of HMRC’s plan to radically alter the way it handles tax enquiries, with more emphasis and reliance on internet based advice.

A HMRC spokesman said, “We have been clear for some time that this will mean fewer, but larger and more modern offices that will help us to deliver better services to our customers and bring in more tax revenue for public services. These changes are part of an ongoing modernisation programme begun several years ago and will take place over the next 10 years.”

Two of the leading professional bodies, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT), however, have misgivings over the rationalisation plans. The ICAEW warn that the timing of the reorganisation “could stretch HMRC to breaking point”. This view is also supported by the CIOT who said that the changes risk destabilising services that are already under strain.