There has been a sharp increase in workload of the employees as the tax net in the country has widened in recent years.
New Delhi: The Income Tax Employees’ Federation (ITEF) has threatened the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) of launching a nationwide agitation if the vacant posts of the I-T department are not filled soon. The I-T department is grappling with a staff crunch up to 43%, officials said.
With a sharp rise in workload, the I-T department is facing an acute shortage of manpower of 39-43%, according to I-T officials. The demand for filling up posts lying vacant has been there for almost a decade now.
On the condition of anonymity, a senior I-T official told The Sunday Guardian: “In recent years, the tax net that used to cover three crore population has reached a point where it deals with six crore people, but the manpower of the department has remained the same. Shortfall in working hands has increased the burden of I-T officials as well as of the common citizen and this has forced the I-T officials to launch the protest. In the coming years, the tax net is going to be wider and wider and to manage the increased burden, the government will have to ensure the proper supply of infrastructure to this department.”
Commenting on the issue, Ashok Kanojia, a former president of the Income Tax Employees’ Federation, said: “Due to staff shortage, the I-T department is still struggling to complete the scrutiny work of the accounts that were identified for depositing cash in excess of the limits prescribed by the Ministry of Finance during the 2016 demonetisation exercise. The first round notices were sent soon after the completion of demonetisation, but the follow-up process is yet to be completed.”
“I hope that the CBDT will soon meet the demands of the I-T department and a speedy recruitment process will start. The problem is on two counts—the recruitment process is slow and even those who are recruited are not being brought on board on a priority basis. The department is also facing problems due to the lack of infrastructure. The country is introducing rapid digitization, but in the tax department, training programme to meet the requirements of the digitisation programme is not being held on a regular basis. The offices have no computers to meet their workload, leave aside other infrastructure,” Kanojia, who currently runs a web portal aaykarnama.com, added.
According to a rough estimate prepared by I-T officials, filing of I-T returns has gone up by 30%. Data has revealed that the number of I-T searches in the past one-year period has reached up to 1,200. Tax collection from individuals during 2017-18 went up by 42%, but the department is working with a shortage of staff. As many as 14 vacancies of chief commissioners against a sanctioned strength of 91 have not been filled.
Another 500 posts of joint commissioner and assistant commissioner of total sanctioned 2,300 posts are lying vacant. More than 10 chief commissioner’s posts against the sanctioned 26 are vacant. The department has vacancies of almost 5,000 inspectors who determine the primary work related to calculation and evasion.