Indian Revenue Service
The Indian Revenue Service (IAST: Bhāratīya Rājasva Sevā), often abbreviated as IRS, is a civil service that is primarily responsible for collecting and administering direct and indirect taxes. As a central civil service under Group A of the executive branch of the Government of India, 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.
| IRS (Income Tax) IRS (Customs and Indirect Taxes) | |
| Service overview | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1919 (as Imperial Customs Service) 1944 (as Income Tax Service) 1953 (as Indian Revenue Service) |
| Headquarters | North Block, New Delhi |
| Country | India |
| Staff colleges | |
| Cadre controlling authority | Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance |
| Minister responsible | Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance and Minister of Corporate Affairs |
| Legal personaliity | Governmental Civil service |
| Cadre strength | 9,775 members (2018) 4,192 (Income Tax) and 5,583 (Customs and Indirect Taxes) |
| Selection | Civil Services Examination |
| Associations |
|
| Service chiefs | |
| Chairperson, CBDT | Nitin Gupta , IRS-IT:1986 |
| Chairperson, CBIC | Sanjay Agarwal, IRS–C&IT:1988 |
| Head of the civil services | |
| Cabinet Secretary | Rajiv Gauba, IAS |
| This article is part of a series on the |
| Politics of India |
|---|
India portal
|
The IRS comprises two branches, Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) and Indian Revenue Service (Custom & Indirect Taxes), controlled by two separate statutory bodies, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC). The duties of the IRS (IT) include among others, formulation of domestic direct tax policy (through the Tax Policy and Legislation Section), formulation of international tax policy (through the Foreign Tax and Tax Research Division), handling policy matters in respect of investigation of tax evasion (through the Investigation Section), updating, resolving and maintaining the relevant laws (through the ITA Division), administering the direct tax policy (through its field offices across the country), and administering all the associated administrative functions pertaining to direct taxes. The duties of the IRS (C&IT) include formulation and enforcement of policy concerning the Goods and Services Tax, prevention of smuggling, and administration of matters related to Customs and Narcotics.
In the 2017-2018 financial year (i.e. 1st April 2017 to 31st March 2018), the IRS (IT) received 5,87,13,458 returns and collected direct taxes amounting to ₹11.37 trillion, spending ₹60,000 (equivalent to ₹91,000 or US$1,100 in 2023) for every ₹1,000 (equivalent to ₹1,500 or US$19 in 2023) it collected. 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.