An Assembly Member has said the move of the tax office from Swansea to Cardiff will be bad news for the economy of the region.

Mid and West AM Simon Thomas raised the issue in the Assembly following an emergency question by Shadow Economy Minister for Plaid Cymru Rhun ap Iorwerth.

Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs has announced the closure of offices at Wrexham, Swansea and Porthmadog.

Party of Wales Mid and West AM Simon Thomas said: “When the office in Carmarthen was closed last year, under the Conservative Government, 90 posts were moved from Carmarthen, from a Welsh-speaking town, to Swansea. The 90 posts that were moved from Carmarthen to Swansea are now being shifted to Cardiff, but, at the time, it was said that it wasn’t possible to move those jobs from Carmarthen to Cardiff because it was too far. If it was too far to move the jobs to Cardiff last year, how can they be moved to Cardiff now? I simply don’t understand what’s behind this mind-set.

“How is possible when we can work on our own taxes online, and everyone can sit at their desks wherever they are within the UK and actually do that work online, why isn’t it possible to retain jobs in a devolved manner too?”

The Welsh Government spokesperson agreed with the AM saying it was wrong that jobs should be taken away from rural areas, where Welsh is widely spoken. It was essential the jobs were maintained and oppose the closure of the offices across Wales.

Simon Thomas commented: “I believe we need to increase the tax take to pay for investment in public services. The fear is this announcement will contribute to a further growth of the ‘tax gap’ – the difference between how much tax should be collected and how much is actually is collected.

“Plaid Cymru believes the timing is regrettable just as Wales is moving to have partial power over taxation, set to take place by 2018.”