The Income Tax Gazetted Officers' Association and the Income Tax Employees Federation have strongly criticised the income tax administration's performance targets, describing them as "irrational and unrealistic", while also flagging acute shortages of staff and infrastructure across the department.
In a joint communication addressed to the Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the two bodies said their members were working under "crushing pressure", facing uncertainty over career progression, delayed promotions and deteriorating service conditions.
"Even as the world ushers in the New Year with optimism, our members continue to remain deeply disillusioned due to growing anxiety over career prospects, unrealistic targets and severe, persistent shortages of essential infrastructure," the Joint Council of Action comprising the two associations said in a communication to the CBDT Chairman.
Issues Raised Earlier, Little Progress on the Ground
The associations said that these concerns have been repeatedly raised with the Board and senior authorities through formal meetings and written representations. However, they alleged that the progress on resolving these issues has been either negligible or far from satisfactory.
They have now sought an early meeting with the CBDT Chairman to discuss service conditions, staffing gaps, infrastructure constraints and what they term as unrealistic performance benchmarks.
Concerns Amid Slower Growth in Direct Tax Collections
The representation comes at a time when net direct tax collections have grown 8.82 per cent to over Rs 18.38 lakh crore so far in the current financial year till January 11, lower than earlier expectations.
Under the Budget Estimates for FY 2025-26, corporation tax collections are pegged at Rs 10.82 lakh crore, indicating a projected growth of 10.4 per cent over the revised estimates of the previous year. Taxes on income (excluding securities transaction tax) are estimated at Rs 13.60 lakh crore, reflecting a growth of 13.1 per cent.
While experts believe the government may still achieve the year-end targets, they point out that this appears to be aided by significantly lower refunds issued to corporate and individual taxpayers.
Taxpayer Complaints Pile Up on CPGRAMS
At the same time, complaints against the CBDT have been mounting. Data from CPGRAMS shows that less than 15 per cent of complaints were resolved during the first eight days of January.
Although the nature of the complaints has not been officially disclosed, it is widely believed that most relate to delays in income tax refunds. Social media platforms continue to see a surge in grievances from taxpayers who claim refunds remain pending despite the timely filing of returns.
Acute Staff Shortage Worsens Pressure
The direct tax administration is also grappling with a severe manpower crunch. According to a written reply by Pankaj Chaudhary in Parliament last August, the CBDT has a sanctioned strength of over 77,700 personnel, with more than 26,000 posts lying vacant, translating to a vacancy rate of around 34 per cent.
Employee bodies say the combination of staff shortages, infrastructure gaps and aggressive targets is adversely affecting both employee morale and taxpayer services and requires urgent policy intervention.
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