The Union Cabinet is likely to approve the restructuring of the Income-Tax Department at its meeting scheduled tomorrow. The plan entails recruitment of around 19,000 tax officials across the country in the next two years.

“The proposal to restructure the Income-Tax Department would be placed before the Union Cabinet at its meeting tomorrow for consideration and approval,” a source said.

He further said that the proposal includes recruitment of 19,000 tax officials across the country in a span of two years.

According to the information available, the Income-Tax Department restructuring has been approved by a Group of Ministers comprising Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, Environment and Forests Minister, Jayanthi Natarajan, and the Minister of Personnel, V. Narayanasamy.

The ministerial panel had reportedly also decided to extend the rank and pay of special secretaries to chief commissioners of bigger I-T zones and to heads of various directorates under the Central Board of Direct Taxes.

Under the plan, around 800 officials would be recruited through the Indian Revenue Service (Group A) route and around 18,000 as Group B and Group C officials.

The GoM was of the view that the revamp plan would result in quicker tax refunds and detection of high net worth individuals who escape the tax net.

The Government plans to collect over Rs 6.68 lakh crore from direct taxes in the current fiscal, up from Rs 5.65 lakh crore in the previous fiscal.

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