Plans by HM Revenue and Customs to close its inquiry centre in Glenrothes next year have been condemned by the area’s MP.
Lindsay Roy says he has little faith that alternatives being proposed will make up for the loss of personal contact.
The UK tax authority is to close all 281 of its enquiry centres in 2014, claiming that the number of people using them has halved from five million in 2005-06 to 2.5 million last year.
HMRC says that, on average, each visit cost the service £152, but four out of five queries could have been dealt with on the phone or online.
It is proposing to replace the centres with a telephone service and home visits when necessary, a move which will save £13 million a year.
A five-month pilot will be held in the north-east of England next month. However, Mr Roy is not convinced that closing the centres will provide a better service.
“If you look at the figures, each office gave face-to-face help to an average of almost 8,900 in 2011-12,” he said.
“People like having personal contact in dealing with issues such as tax and I have little faith that the alternatives being proposed will make things better for them.”
He claimed the present hotline can prove very frustrating for people and his office regularly receives complaints from constituents about the length of time it takes to get through and the cost of calls.
Another major issue is the number of different staff often dealing with the same case, frequently leading to repetition, confusion and frustration, he said.
He admitted it was essential to move with the times, but the most vulnerable often cannot access the internet or afford to call hotlines and depend on being able to speak to someone face to face.
“This move by HMRC is yet another example of the link with communities being broken. If this is to work at all, then it must be carefully planned to ensure people do not feel abandoned or disadvantaged.
“However, I fear this is simply a money-saving exercise which is unlikely to benefit taxpayers,” he added.