Public sector strike could hit self assessment tax deadline
National civil service strike is mooted for 31 January - potentially with disastrous ramifications
Tax advisers could face a nervy self assessment filing deadline as a national
public sector workers’ strike could take place on 31 January.
The Public and Commercial Services Union has confirmed that it plans to
ballot civil servants over strike action in the new year, with self assessment
filing deadline 31 January considered as the date for the first action.
‘That date is a possibility,’ said a spokesman for the PCS. ‘It has been
discussed.’
The PCS is looking for assurances that there will be no more compulsory
redundancies in the civil service, as the government looks to drive efficiency
gains in the public sector.
The union is also concerned that staff will receive below inflation pay
increases this year, and that outsourcing and privatisation decisions are
thought through more carefully.
HMRC is making cutting several thousand posts by 2008, which could be
followed by another round of 12,500 job cuts by 2011.