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

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.