Chairperson of the Central Board of Direct Taxes

The Chairperson, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is the senior-most IRS (IT) civil servant in the Government of India. The Chairperson of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is the Special Secretary to the Government of India and also cadre controlling authority of the Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax).

Central Board of Direct Taxes
केंद्रीय प्रत्यक्ष कर बोर्ड
Emblem of India
Flag of India
Incumbent Ravi Agarwal, IRS (IT:1988) since 1 July 2024
Income Tax Department (IT)
Status	Active
Abbreviation	CBDT
Reports to	Government of India
Residence	North Block, Secretariat Building, New Delhi
Appointer	Finance minister of India The appointee for the office is approved by Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister[a]
Term length	No fixed tenure is imposed on the office but term can be extended
Inaugural holder	Jamuna Prasad Singh
Formation	1964
Salary	₹225,000 (US$2,700)
Website	https://www.irsofficersonline.gov.in/

The CBDT Chairperson is a Special Secretary and reports to the Revenue Secretary of India.^[1] He is placed equivalent to officers of the rank of Lieutenant-General, Vice-Admiral or Air Marshal, CBI Director and Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General in the Order of Precedence.^[2]

Functions

The following are the functions of the Chairman:

• Administrative planning of the Income Tax Department.
• Act as advisor and conscience keeper of the Indian Revenue Service.
• Handle senior appointments.
• Represents the Finance Ministry at important tax-based conferences at UN and OECD.
• Transfers and postings of officers in the cadre of Chief Commissioner of Income-tax and Commissioner of Income-tax.
• Matters dealt with in the Foreign Tax and Tax Research Division, except matters under Section 80-O of the Income-tax Act, 1961.
• Ensure that the Cabinet decisions are implemented
• Advise the Finance Minister of India.
• All matters relating to Central and Regional Direct Taxes Advisory Committees and Consultative Committee of the Parliament.
• Public Grievances.
• Provide an element of continuity and stability to administration during crises.^[2][3][4]

Emolument, accommodation and perquisites

As the Chairperson, CBDT is of the rank of Secretary to Government of India, his/her salary is equivalent^[5] to Chief Secretaries of State Governments and to Vice Chief of Army Staff/Commanders, in the rank of Lieutenant General and equivalent ranks in Indian Armed Forces.^[5]

Chairperson, CBDT monthly pay and allowances

Base Salary as per 7th Pay Commission (Per month)	Pay Matrix Level	Sources
₹225,000 (US$2,700)	Pay Level 17	[6]

List of CBDT Chairpersons

CBDT Chairpersons since Inception^[7]

Name	Tenure	Notes
Jamuna Prasad Singh	1964 - 1967	First ever CBDT Chairman
S A I Navapna Raw	1967 - 1968
K S Sundara Rajan	1968 - 1969	Went on to become Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat
R N Muttoo	1969 - 1971
R D Shah	1971 - 1974
S R Mehta	1974 - 1977
S Narayan	1977 - 1978
V V Badami	1978 - 1979
O V Kuravilla	1979 - 1981	Went on to become Chairman of Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission
Jagdish Chand	1981 - 1983
V Chidambaram	1983 - 1984
N Subramanian	1984 - 1985
M S Narayanan	1985 - 1986
Chand K. Tikku	1986 - 1988	Went on to become Vice Chairman of MP Administrative Reforms Commission
G N Gupta	1988 - 1989
A S Thind	1989 - 1989
T N Pandey	1989 - 1990	Went on to become Member of Direct Tax Reforms Committee
A V Swaminathan	1990 - 1991
A K Ghosh	1991 - 1992	Was appointed as Chairman of Supreme Fact-Finding Committee related to Harshad Mehta Scam
S Ramamurthi	1992 - 1993
R S Rathore	1993 - 1994
Dr. N R Sivaswamy	1994 - 1994
T R Srinivasan	1994 - 1995
N Rangachary	1995 - 1996	Went on to become Chairman of the IRDA
G K Mishra	1996 - 1997
S N Shende	1997 - 1997
Ravi Kant	1997 - 2000
S K Nigam	2000 - 2000	Was appointed as Special Advisor to FM on Taxation
A Balasubramanian	2000 - 2001
O P Srivastava	2001 - 2001
P K Sharma	2002 - 2003
P L Singh	2003 - 2004
Shobha Majumdar	2004 - 2005	First woman to be a CBDT Chairperson[8]
Berjinder Singh	2005 - 2005
M S Darda	2005 - 2005
M M Kherawala	2006 - 2006	Second woman to be a CBDT Chairperson[9]
Indira Bhargawa	2006 - 2007	Third woman to be a CBDT Chairperson[10]
B M Singh	2007 - 2007	Went on to become Member of ITSC
R Prasad	2007 - 2008	Went to become Member of Competition Commission of India (CCI) till 2013
P K Mishra	2008 - 2008	Went on to become Chairperson, Adjudicating Authority, Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA),Ministry of Finance till 2013
R S Mathoda	2008 - 2008
N B Singh	2008 - 2009
S S N Moorthy	2009 - 2010	Went on to become Member of Securities Appellate Tribunal
Sudhir Chandra	2011 - 2011
Prakash Chandra	2011 - 2011
M C Joshi	2011 - 2012	Was Chairman of Black Money Committee appointed by Prime Minister
Laxman Das	2012 - 2012
Poonam K Saxena	2012 - 2013
Sudha Sharma	2013 - 2014
R K Tewari	2014 - 2014
K. V. Chowdary	1 August 2014 – 31 October 2014	Went on to become CVC [11]
Anita Kapur	1 November 2014 - 30 November 2015	Went on to become member of Competition Appellate Tribunal
Arun Kumar Jain	15 Dec 2015 - 30 January 2016
Atulesh Jindal	1 February 2016 - 31 July 2016
Rani Singh Nair	1 August 2016 - 31 October 2016
Sushil Chandra	1 November 2016- 14 February 2019	Went on to become chief Election Commissioner at ECI [12]
Pramod Chandra Mody	15 February 2019- 31 May 2021	Became Secretary General of Rajya Sabha in the rank of Cabinet Secretary. Longest Serving Chairman since Feb 15, 2019 to 31 May 2021.[13]
Jagannath Bidyadhar Mahapatra	1 June 2021-30 April 2022	From 1 June 2021 to August 2021, he served as the Acting Chairperson
Sangeeta Singh (additional charge)	2 May 2022 – 30 June 2022
Nitin Gupta	1 July 2022-30 June 2024	Later Chairman National Financial Reporting Authority.
Ravi Agarwal	1 July 2024-Incumbent

Notes

1. The CBDT Chairperson is usually the senior most IRS officer of the senior most batch.

See also

• Principal Secretary (India)
• Chairperson Central Board of Excise & Customs