Full Form of IRS

IRS Full Form

Many of us have heard about IAS or IPS. Both are a form of government exams. It is interesting to note that there are a lot of government exams that are held across India. One such exam is IRS. Now, what is IRS, and what is its importance? Let us discuss the term in detail.

IRS stands for Indian Revenue Services. The officers working under the IRS are the revenue civil service providers. They also act as the central civil service providers for the Government of India. Now, what is central civil service? The central civil service is defined as the service in which the officers are concerned with the non-political executive administration. The officers are responsible for handling the administrative body under the government of India.

The IRS comes under the Ministry of Finance (revenue department). The IRS is looked after by the Minister of Finance, who heads the entire department. The Indian Revenue Service department is responsible for collecting and managing the taxes, i.e., direct taxes and indirect taxes. The IRS has two branches working under it, i.e., the income tax department and the custom and indirect tax department. These two departments are managed by two government bodies, namely CBDT (Central Board of Direct Taxes) and CBIC (Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs). Under IRS the income tax department is responsible for managing the tax policy both national and international, managing the tax policy matters, maintaining and following the rules and regulations, etc. On the other hand, the custom and indirect taxes department is responsible for managing the goods and services tax, preventing smuggling, and managing the matters that concern narcotics and other things.

Now, let us talk about some revenue facts. In the year 2017-18, the IRS collected around 6 Crores of return. In the same year, the taxes collected by IRS were worth Rs. 11 crores. The direct tax has an enormous contribution to the overall taxes. The tax collection rate has risen from 35% to 57% over 14 years. The GDP rate has also been increased from 3% to 6% due to direct taxes. Now, let us brush up on some history regarding IRS.

1. James Wilson founded the Income Tax Department under IRS in the year 1857. The main aim of setting up this department was to overcome the arisen difficulties due to the rebellion.  
2. In the year 1922, the Income Tax Act was passed. The Income Tax Department appointed the officers for each province and state. The Income Tax Service came into being in 1944. These services were rewritten and were again established in the year 1953.
3. In 1963, due to many responsibilities the CBDT (Central Board of Direct Taxes) was established as a statutory body as per the Central Board of Revenue Act, 1963.
4. In 1953, the Imperial Customs Service was renamed and was called Customs and Indirect Tax under the IRS. This tax collection service went through a drastic change. The goods and services tax was also founded at this point.

These are some historical points regarding the Indian Revenue Service. It is interesting to know that to become an officer of the IRS, an individual needs to give the IRS exam. The candidates can become officers by giving the civil services exam. The civil services exam consists of three stages, i.e., the preliminary exam, the main exam, and an interview. All the civil services exams are held and managed by the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission). There are two groups under IRS, i.e., Group A and Group B. The candidates under Group B are promoted after several years of services, unlike Group A. The President of India appoints all the officers under IRS. There are eight designations under IRS that the candidates are selected. These designations are:

• Assistant Commissioner (GST) (Entry Level)
• Deputy Commissioner
• Joint Commissioner
• Additional Commissioner
• Commissioner of Central GST
• Principal Commissioner
• Chief Commissioner
• Principal Chief Commissioner

These are the eight designations, and the officers under the IRS are promoted gradually to these levels.

The Indian Revenue Service is under the Government of India responsible for regulating the direct and indirect taxes. The officers under IRS hold various positions. Group A and Group B’s only difference is that the officers under Group A are directly recruited and promoted while the officers under Group B are gradually promoted. Both the income tax department and customs and indirect tax department are responsible for regulating the tax policies. Thus, IRS is one of the leading departments under the Government of India.