Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax)

Indian Revenue Service
Bhāratīya Rājasva Sevā

IRS (Income Tax)
Service overview
Founded1944; 80 years ago (1944)
(as Income Tax Service)
1953; 71 years ago (1953)
(as Indian Revenue Service IT)
HeadquartersNorth Block, New Delhi
Country India
Staff colleges
  1. National Academy of Direct Taxes, Nagpur, Maharashtra
Cadre controlling authorityDepartment of Revenue, Ministry of Finance
Minister responsibleNirmala Sitaraman, Minister of Finance
Legal personaliityGovernmental
Civil service
Cadre strength4192 (Income Tax)[1]
SelectionCivil Services Examination
Associations
  1. Indian Revenue Service IT Association
Service chief
Chairperson, CBDTRavi Agarwal, IRS (IT)
Head of the civil services
Cabinet SecretaryT. V. Somanathan, IAS

The Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) (IAST: Bhāratīya Rājasva Sevā), often abbreviated as IRS (IT), is the administrative revenue service of the Government of India. As a Central Service, it functions under the Department of Revenue of the Ministry of Finance and is under the administrative direction of the Revenue Secretary and the ministerial command of the Minister of Finance. The IRS is primarily responsible for collecting and administering direct taxes accruing to the Government of India.

The IRS (Income Tax) is controlled by a statutory body, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). The duties of the IRS (IT) include providing tax assistance to taxpayers, pursuing and resolving instances of erroneous or fraudulent tax filings, and formulating and enforcing policy concerning income tax in India.

In the 2015 fiscal year, the IRS (IT) processed 3,91,28,247 returns[2] and collected 6.95797 lakh crore (equivalent to 11 trillion or US$130 billion in 2023) in gross revenue, spending 6 (equivalent to 9.00 or 11¢ US in 2023) for every 1,000 (equivalent to 1,500 or US$18 in 2023) it collected.[3] The relative contribution of direct tax to the overall tax collection of the Central Government has risen from about 36% to 56% over the period of 2000–01 to 2013–14. The contribution of direct tax-to-GDP has doubled (from about 3% to 6%) during the same period.[4]

  1. ^ "Information to be published under Section 4(1)(b) of the Right to Information Act, 2005., Central Board of Direct Taxes, 2014" (PDF). Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  2. ^ "Income Tax Return Statistics, Assessment Year 2014-15, Income Tax Department, India" (PDF). Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  3. ^ "Statistical Year Book India, 2017". Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Profile IRS was invoked but never defined (see the help page).