Income tax department to reward officials for good performance

MUMBAI: The income tax department is all set to get its own ‘wall of fame’. The initiative is aimed at rewarding officers who have performed exceedingly well in their specific responsibilities. Officers who have unearthed unique modus operandi by tax evaders, helped in tax mop-ups and even those who have implemented the Prime Minister’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan will be feted. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has decided to award such officials at public ceremonies and use their body of work for future references.

While the initiative has been welcomed by many who feel that the I-T department should restructure their HR policies and bring in corporate culture, others say initiatives like these would only stress the already overburdened tax department.

Last week, the government added outcomes on the Vivad se Vishwas tax amnesty scheme as a part of the annual performance assessment.

“While it’s appreciative that the department is trying to don a more corporate culture and make performance as the criteria, this will cause a lot of undue pressure and also there could be allegations that a case was ‘fake’ or a tax demand was dressed up so that the AO (assessing officer) could benefit from it,” said an official.

“Just when the department was busy meeting the revenue targets which is behind despite a revision in the budget, the government has introduced the VsV scheme which, though voluntary in nature, has been linked to the performance of the field officers. Why should a voluntary scheme be an appraisal criterion,” asked another official.