Sushil Chandra takes charge as CBDT chairman

Senior Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Sushil Chandra on Tuesday took over as chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). Chandra, a 1980-batch IRS officer, has replaced Rani Singh Nair, who retired from service on Monday. Chandra had been Member (Investigation) in CBDT since December 2015. The Chairperson, CBDT is the senior-most IRS civil servant in the Government of India. The Chairperson of Central Board of Direct Taxes is the ex officio Special Secretary to the Government of India and also cadre controlling authority of the IRS. 

“During his long and illustrious career in the Income Tax Department, he has handled many prestigious assignments like the Principal Chief Commissioner and Director General of Income Tax at Ahmedabad, Commissioner of Income Tax and Director of Income Tax (Investigation) at Mumbai, among others,” CBDT said in a statement. 

“His dynamism and forward looking vision is expected to further energise the Income Tax Department in its taxpayer friendly measures and new initiatives in the area of e-governance,” it added. An IIT graduate, Chandra will be in office till May next year. CBDT has six members, apart from the chairman, and is responsible for framing policy related to direct taxes and the Income Tax Department.