HMRC workers in Dundee have been left reeling at the announcement that two local offices will be closed.
The move means that there will be no HMRC offices in Dundee by March 2018.
The news was broken to staff members in the city on Thursday.
According to the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union, all tax jobs will be lost to the city within the next three years.
Caledonian House in Greenmarket will close by 2018 with the loss of 130 jobs.
Dundee MP Chris Law said: “I’m absolutely outraged at this decision. It comes at a time when Dundee is on the up and undergoing regeneration.This is the last thing the city needs.”
Sidlaw House, which currently has 650 staff, will be migrated to the DWP although there is no set date for the move.
Helen Meldrum, chairwoman of the PCS Dundee branch, which represents the majority of HMRC staff, called the move “ill thought out”.
She said: “There will be no specialist tax knowledge in the cities of Scotland outside of Edinburgh and Glasgow.
“What we would like to see is proper investment in HMRC in order for tax revenues to be collected.
“With the vast majority of all HMRC offices closing, we believe that this will negatively impact upon the department’s ability to collect tax.
“Only last week, HMRC was heavily criticised for under-performance by the Public Accounts Committee.
“We call upon HMRC to halt these plans until such times as they can be subject to proper parliamentary and public scrutiny. We would also like to see socio-economic impact assessments for areas like Dundee.
“We call on HMRC to engage meaningfully with the trade union which represents the majority of staff.”
One worker, who did not want to be named, said: “I’m disgusted by the whole process. People are coming here, doing a good job and getting paid less and less. And now the final insult is to the shut offices down.”
The decision to close Dundee’s HMRC offices are part of a national overhaul which will see 137 offices closed around the UK.
North East Scotland MP Jenny Marra said: “I will fight these job cuts every step.”
HMRC plans for them to be replaced with 13 regional centres with Scotland’s being in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Lin Homer, HMRC’s chief executive, said: “HMRC is committed to modern, regional centres serving every region and nation in the UK, with skilled and varied jobs and development opportunities, while also ensuring jobs are spread throughout the UK and not concentrated in the capital.
“HMRC has too many expensive, isolated and outdated offices. This makes it difficult for us to collaborate, modernise our ways of working, and make the changes we need to transform our service to customers and clamp down further on the minority who try to cheat the system.
“The new regional centres will bring our staff together in more modern and cost-effective buildings in areas with lower rents.”