Work without fear or favour, CBDT tells taxmen

Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), MC Joshi, has asked Income Tax (I-T) department officials to work without "fear or favour" to achieve this fiscal's tax collection target of Rs 5.32 lakh crore.

Invoking the philosophies of Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindra Nath Tagore, Joshi, who took over as the chief of the CBDT on August 1, said that although the task of achieving the target was difficult, nothing was "impossible".

"Our revenue collection target for the present fiscal stands at over Rs 5.32 lakh crore, which has been increased by 10% by the Finance Minister. I would like to call upon every member of the Aayakar parivar (I-T family) to take on the call of duty and put in their best efforts for the attainment of the revised target.

"I know it is difficult, however, nothing is impossible and I am confident that the officers will rise to the occasion," Joshi said in his maiden message to the officials of the department across the country.

"The officers and staff should work without fear or favour and contribute to the achieving of the key action plan targets," he said.

Joshi said that being "futuristic and responsive" should be the hallmark of I-T officials while dealing with tax payers.

The Chief Commissioners (CCsIT) of each region are expected to be the pioneers for their action plan targets pertaining to their respective regions, he said.

"In my task ahead, I will be consulting the CCsIT of each region who are the custodians of each region to find out ways and means to augment the revenue collection and render better tax payer services," Joshi, a 1974-batch Indian Revenue Service officer (IRS) said.