Top IRS officers to get fixed pay scale of Rs 80,000 per month

NEW DELHI: Top income tax sleuths will now get a fixed pay scale of Rs 80,000 per month on par with secretaries in the Union government and police chiefs.

The proposal, approving the enhanced salary for chief commissioners (CCs) and directors general (DGs) of income tax, was in-principle cleared by the Union Cabinet in May when it also put its stamp of approval on the much awaited cadre restructuring of the income tax department.

“The decision to upgrade the salaries of these senior ranking officers from Rs 67,000-79,000 to Rs 75,500-80,000 was made by the government on July 19 and it will come into force from today,” a top Revenue department officer said.

This is the first time Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers have been sanctioned the apex grade of salary and these I-T officers will now be getting equivalent pay on par with secretaries to the government and directors general of police, the officer said.

A total of 116 CCs and DGs of the tax department will get benefit of this decision who are tasked to collect revenue under the direct taxes category.

The government recently sanctioned a large-scale cadre restructuring of the I-T department and created 20,751 posts, in various ranks, in the I-T department.

According to the new blueprint of the I-T in this regard, the number of assessment units of the department would be “increased by 1,080 from 3,420 to 4,500 for strengthening the tax administration”.

This step is expected to “bring additional revenue of Rs 25,756.04 crore per annum against an expenditure of Rs 449.71 crore per annum”, the new blueprint says.

“The primary objective of the strengthening/restructuring exercise (of the I-T department) is to improve the efficiency of the I-T department, maximise revenue collection and provide better services to the taxpayers, apart from improving career prospects of the employees,” the blueprint, also called the vision document, says.

Indian Revenue Service

In the Indian Revenue Service you earn money for the exchequer and therefore, as Usha Gupta, Additional Commissioner Income Tax points out you have to keep departmental expenses to the minimum! The job according to her is “officer oriented” as you are involved in all the processes from investigation to decisions and policy planning. As you will deal with the fiscal policy and budget, aptitude for accounts as well as a legal aptitude is useful. She states that you “wield a lot of power” and whereas the law abiding citizen “need not fear us, the white collar criminal better watch out” !

Your professional training will be conducted in the National Academy of Direct Taxes, Nagpur and you will also receive on-the-job training at an Assistant Commissioner’s office for sometime. Following this you will serve as an Assistant Commissioner for about eight years. You will examine cases in which the tax assessed is more than the prescribed figure. Assistant Commissioners deal with income and losses between Rs. 2 - 5 lakhs.

In the Junior Administrative Grade (JAG) and Selection Grade you would be a Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax or Deputy Director (Investigation). Deputy Commissioners (Assessment) handle cases above Rs.5 lakhs. In the Senior Administrative Grade you could be a Commissioner of Income Tax in a metropolitan town or one of the state capitals or a Director of Income Tax. Some of these Commissioners are designated Chief - Commissioners of Income Tax and are in a scale similar to that of Additional Secretaries.