Nitin Gupta: New CBDT Chairperson

Appointments Committee of the cabinet has approved the appointment of IRS officer Nitin Gupta as the new chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).

Who is Nitin Gupta?

• Nitin Gupta is an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer of 1986 batch.
• He belongs to the Income Tax cadre.
• He is serving as Member (investigation) in the Board.
• He is scheduled to retire in September next year.
• He has been appointed as the chairman, from the date of assumption of this post.

Who was the former chairman?

The post of the CBDT chairman was being held by Board member and 1986-batch IRS officer, Sangeeta Singh. She was serving in an additional capacity, after J B Mohapatra retired on April 30, 2022.

Serving Members of the Board

There are five members in the Board currently. 1985-batch IRS officer, Anuja Sarangi, is the senior most member. Other members include Subashree Anantkrishnan and Pragya Sahay Saksena. Both are 1987 batch IRS officer.

About Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)

CBDT is a statutory body and administrative body of Income Tax department, established in accordance with the Central Board of Revenue Act, 1963. It is the official financial action task force unit in India. The board is administered by “Department of Revenue”, under “Ministry of Finance”. Originally, there was “Central Board of Revenue”, which was the apex body of Income Tax Department. It was the in charge of direct as well as indirect taxes. In 1964, the Central Board of Revenue got split into two boards viz., Central Board of Direct Taxes and Central Board of Excise & Customs.

Head of CBDT

CBDT is headed by a chairman. It can comprise of six members who are in the rank of special secretary.

Functions of CBDT

• CBDT deals with levying and collecting Direct Taxes.
• The board formulates various policies.
• It supervises entire Income Tax Department.
• It also suggests legislative changes in Direct Tax Enactments.
• Besides suggesting changes in tax rates, it proposes changes in taxation structure, in accordance with Government policies.

Month: Current Affairs - June, 2022

Category: Awards, Honours & Persons in News