IRS officers brought on Spl secy pay scale; on par with IPS,

Government has appointed eighteen senior Income Tax department officers to the rank of Principal Chief Commissioners in the top pay scale of Rs 80,000 per month, bringing them on par with top secretaries and DGPs.
The step was much awaited as the IRS had made a long time demand to bring their seniormost officers on par with those in the IAS and IPS.
The Finance Ministry issued an order appointing 18 Principal CCs of I-T yesterday.
The top post in the Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) cadre till now used to be either a Chief Commissioner (CC) or a Director General (DG) which is equivalent to an Additional Chief Secretary rank officer but the government last year approved a massive cadre restructuring of the I-T department after which the senior most officers stand to get a pay scale on par with the DGPs and top secretaries of the government.

"A total of 18 Chief Commissioners, including three women officers, have been appointed and posted as Principal Chief Commissioners with a salary of Rs 80,000 per month. Till now, an Income Tax department officer could only rise upto a Chief Commissioner level which is an Addl Secretary rank post," a senior official told PTI.
As the restructuring of the Income Tax department is still being done by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the 18 officers will officiate from their incumbent posting as there are no new charges to be held.

All these officers will now be equivalent to the Special Secretary rank to the central government.

Sources said, close to a dozen more senior CCs and DsG are expected to be appointed as the Principal CCs in the near future.
At present there are about 40 CCs and DsG in the I-T department spread across its various wings like investigation, intelligence, vigilance, HRD and administration, among others.