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Indian Revenue Service

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Indian Revenue Service
Service Overview
Indian Revenue Service Logo
Indian Revenue Service
Abbreviation IRS
Formed 1953
Headquarters Cabinet Secretariat
Raisina Hill, New Delhi
Country  India
Training Grounds 1. National Academy of Direct Taxes (Nagpur)
2. National Academy of Customs, Excise and Narcotics (Faridabad)
Controlling Authority Ministry of Finance, Government of India
Legal Personality Governmental
Federal law enforcement
General Nature Taxation
Revenue Administration
Cadre Size 3904 (Income Tax)
2644 (Customs and Central Excise)
Service Chief
Chairman, CBDT
Chairman, CBEC 		Laxman Das
S. K. Goel
Head of the Civil Services
Cabinet Secretary
Current: A. K. Seth

The Indian Revenue Service (Hindi: भारतीय राजस्व सेवा, Bhāratīya Rājaswa Sevā), abbreviated as IRS, is the revenue service of the Government of India. It is one of the Central Civil Services (Group A). The Service functions under the Department of Revenue in the Union Ministry of Finance and is concerned with the collection and administration of the various direct and indirect taxes accruing to the Union Government.

IRS comprises two branches - IRS (Customs and Central Excise) and IRS (Income Tax), which are controlled by two separate statutory bodies, viz., Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) and Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) respectively.

Work profile

Starting with Assistant Commissioner (AC), members of the IRS usually rise up to the designation of Chief Commissioner (CC). Some senior-most members serve as Chairpersons or Members of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) and Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT).[1]

The North Block houses the Finance Ministry

Cadre Restructuring which is supposed to be done once every five years is taken up with the active intervention of IRS Association. The proposal of both the Boards have been given clearance by the Department of Personnel and Training and when officially declared it would enhance the promotion prospects and create large number of Apex grade posts in the Service and address the severe staff crunch in the department.

Image:Central Excise & Customs Officer.jpg|IRS Officers on Indo-China Border.jpg Recently, Government of India has decided to post IRS officers of rank of Additional Commissioner abroad to help with taxation matters in countries with double taxation avoidance agreements.Eight countries were chosen including U.S.A, Germany, Japan, France, Netherlands, UAE, Cyprus[2].

Designations

The designations and time-scales within the Indian Revenue Service are as follows:

Position / Pay Grade in the Government of India Level and Rank Order of Precedence
(As per Presidential order)
1 Junior Time Scale Assistant Commissioner / Entry-level (Probationer) --
2 Senior Time Scale Deputy Commissioner (Equivalent to) Under Secretary to Government of India --
3 Junior Administrative Grade Joint Commissioner (Equivalent to) Deputy Secretary to Government of India --
4 Selection Grade Additional Commissioner (Equivalent to) Director to Government of India --
5 Senior Administrative Grade Commissioner (Equivalent to) Joint Secretary to Government of India 26
6 Higher Administrative Grade Chief Commissioner (Equivalent to) Additional Secretary to Government of India 25
7 Apex Scale / HAG+ Chairman/Member/Ombudsman (Boards & Tribunals) (Equivalent to) Spl. Secretary to Government of India 23

Major concerns

Corruption

Transparency International, a global watchdog body, ranked India at a low 73 out of the 102 countries in its Corruption Perception Index, later in the 2008 survey, it ranked 85th in a 128 country list. The World Economic Forum on the other hand, ranked India 44 among 49 countries surveyed.[3] A 2009 survey of the leading economies of Asia, revealed Indian bureaucracy to be not just least efficient out of Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, China, Philippines and Indonesia; further it was also found that working with the India's civil servants was a "slow and painful" process.[4] This ranking, done by 1,274 expatriates working in 12 North and South Asian nations, ranked Asian bureaucracies in the following order: Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, China, Philippines, Indonesia and India. Read more in : The Times of India Survey - Indian bureaucracy ranked worst in Asia

By the 1990s, the economic liberalization of the Indian economy and the end of the license raj, gradually opened up the economic skies and the end to the regulatory regime which flourished during previous era, loosened its hold over the resources. Though this brought to surface the practices of kickbacks, both during disinvestment and offering government contracts, and while setting up of industries by foreign businesses were soon employing same corrupt practices used by Indian businesses for decades.[5]

Over the years, several reasons have been cited by various scholars regarding the sustained existence of corrupt practices within the Indian bureaucratic system,[6] also known as babudom colloquially, leading among them is its nexus with political corruption,[7] lack of accountability and low regulatory controls. Others have suggested a rigid bureaucracy with a exclusivist process of decision making in a overly-centralized government as the reason its pervasiveness despite the passing years. In fact surveys have found it to be most resistant to transformation in its ways of functioning, even after repeated efforts by successive governments.[8] Some experts believe that a fall out of the existing corruption and red tapism can be detrimental to the Indian economy in the long run, as foreign investors in a rapidly global, economies of the world still view entering into India as a challenge and plagued as it remains both with political and bureaucratic corruption as well systematic inefficiency which leads to long turn around period as project delays cause cost escalations in volatile market economies.[9] Also in the recent years, several corrupt economies of Asia have faced setbacks, after the wave of economic upturn faded, this makes the urgency of corrective measures more than evident, they make it an imperative.[10][11]

Board outside CBI's Anti Corruption Branch in Mumbai

The IRS officials top the Central Bureau of Investigation’s list of most corrupt bureaucrats. In the one year period from May 2009 to May 2010, the CBI had sought sanction for prosecution of 102 IRS officials posted in different parts of the country in connection with corruption cases.[12] In one case, a 1992 batch IRS (IT) officer was arrested for accepting a bribe of Rs 2 Crore in Mumbai.[13] Recently, in another case, some IRS officials were found to help certain companies evade payment of Service tax and related penalties of the order of Rs 1 Crore.[14]

Recent initiatives

Many new initiatives were taken by the Indian Revenue Service members to curb corruption in their respective departments and make the system more efficient and responsive to the needs of the tax payers. Use of Technology widely reduced scope for the abuse of power. Refund Banker scheme introduced in 2007 eliminated the scope for corruption in the Refunds of Excessive Tax collected by the Department.[15] Introduction of E-filing of Taxes[16] and effective implementation of Permanent Account Number (PAN) are some revolutionary steps that reduced the scope for corruption at all levels while improving the efficiency of the whole system. Use of Centralised Processing Center setup in 2010 at Bangalore of the Income Tax Department reduced unnecessary delays in processing returns.[17] These computerization initiatives have freed up the human resources in the department which are largely responsible for higher revenue collections.

Income Tax Ombudsmen has been created in 2006 and is functional at 12 cities to look into tax related grievances of the public.[18] Department is also gearing to improve its tax payer's services with Sevottam Scheme. Under this scheme various initiatives such as Citizen Charter, Ayakar Seva Kendra (ASK) which is a single Window mechanism for implementing Sevottam through delivery of these services within the time lines promised in the Citizen’s Charter were launched.[19] Ayakar Sampark Kendra consists of one National Call Centre and 4 regional Call Centres to aid the tax payer were inaugurated by the Hon'ble Finance Minister.[20]

Further reading

  • Indian bureaucracy at the crossroads, by Syamal Kumar Ray. Published by Sterling, 1979.
  • Corruption in Indian politics and bureaucracy, by Satyavan Bhatnagar, S. K. Sharma, Panjab University. Published by Ess Ess Publications, 1991. ISBN 81-7000-123-4.
  • Breaking Free of Nehru (particularly chapter 5), by Sanjeev Sabhlok, Published by Anthem Press, 2008.

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/CCIT/CBDT.asp
  2. ^ http://irsofficersonline.gov.in/Documents/OfficalCommunique/1411201243117.PDF
  3. ^ India tries to root out bureaucratic corruption Asia Times, August 7, 2003.
  4. ^ Indian bureaucracy ranked worst in Asia: Survey The Times of India, June 3, 2009.
  5. ^ Corruption Liberalisation and Globalisation of Indian Economy, by Kulwant Rai Gupta. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, 2000. ISBN 81-7156-787-8. Page 123.
  6. ^ CBI registers corruption case against IAS officer
  7. ^ Ministry of External Affairs Interference News
  8. ^ Corruption Making Sense of Corruption in India: An Investigation Into the Logic of Bribery, by Mira Fels. Published by LIT Verlag Berlin-Hamburg-Münster, 2008. ISBN 3-8258-1384-3. Page 60-61.
  9. ^ India's struggle to befriend investors BBC News, October 11, 2004.
  10. ^ Vittal, N. (2003). Corruption in India: The Roadblock to National Prosperity. Academic Foundation. ISBN 81-7188-287-0.. Excerpts.
  11. ^ Will Growth Slow Corruption In India? Forbes, Knowledge@Wharton. August 15, 2007.
  12. ^ "IRS officials top CBI corrupt list". The Asian Age. 4 July 2010. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
  13. ^ "Income tax official, husband arrested for accepting Rs1.70 crore bribe in Mumbai". Daily News and Analysis. 17 April 2010. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
  14. ^ "CBI raids excise officials and steel majors". Times of India. 20 April 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
  15. ^ http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/refund-banker-scheme-for-taxpayers-extended-to-9-more-cities/76245/on
  16. ^ https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/portal/index.do
  17. ^ "Bangalore centre speeds up processing of I-T returns". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 20 June 2011.
  18. ^ http://www.incometaxindiapr.gov.in/incometaxindiacr/listContent.jsp?p=OMBUDSMAN.html
  19. ^ http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_aayakar-seva-kendra-to-make-i-t-filing-easy_1642924
  20. ^ http://www.irsofficersonline.gov.in/Documents/OfficalCommunique/14162012111238.pdf
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