Posts of IT officer vacant, work piles up

Our Correspondent

PALAMPUR, December 18

Taxation associations and income tax payers have lodged a protest against the failure of the Central Board of Direct Taxes in filling of a number of posts of senior officer of the department.

They said in the absence of officers, the disposal of appeal cases had come to a standstill. “Despite the repeated requests, the department has failed to fill these posts, causing inconvenience to tax payers,” said a chartered accountant.

The post of principal commissioner in the department has been vacant for the past eight months. After the promotion of Pritam Singh as Chief Commissioner, no officer was posted in Shimla. The CBDT has given the additional charge of Himachal to Panchkula officer.

Likewise, the post of commissioner of Income Tax, Appeals, at Palampur has also been lying vacant for the past one-and-a-half year. After the transfer Prabhjot Kaur to Amritsar, no new officer was posted here. The CBDT has given the additional charge of Palampur to CIT, Appeals, Ludhiana, and CIT, Appeals, Amritsar.

Two days ago, the CIT, Appeals, Solan, has also been transferred and thecharge has also been assigned to Chandigarh officer.

At present, the posts of Additional Commissioner of income tax at Shimla and Mandi are also vacant.

The Taxation Bar Association, Palampur, in a resolution passed here today assailed the CBDT for neglecting Himachal and keeping 90 per cent posts of key officer vacant. It said appeals had been piling up in the state as there was no officer to hear the cases.

The association appealed to the CBDT to fill all posts with immediate effect. The copy of the resolution was also sent to Anurag Thakur, Minister of State for Finance.