HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) plans to cut 3,400 jobs and close 90 tax and VAT offices across Britain as part of its plans to reduce the number of civil servants handling tax and VAT claims by 25,000 in a Whitehall efficiency drive.

Regions affected by the announcement include the east of England, where 18 offices will close, resulting in the loss of 800 jobs. In south-west England 19 offices and 835 jobs will shut and in north-west England, 11 offices. In Yorkshire and Humber nine offices will close and 400 people lose their jobs, The Guardian reports.

In Northern Ireland, five offices are closing, resulting in staff cuts of 190; in Scotland, 20 offices will shut, leading to 400 redundancies; and in Wales 11 offices and 470 jobs will be lost.

However, a HMRC spokesman said no job cuts had been announced yet. 'What we have announced today is the last in a series of decisions in HMRC's regional review of office structure,' he said. 'Those offices which are going to close will be vacated on a phased basis with staff moves expected to start in spring 2009.

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