Young-professionals to be hired by I-T department to help in tax litigation
Mumbai, Aug 6, 2023
Perhaps for the first time, the Income-tax department is tapping into the young-talent by introducing the ‘Young Professional Scheme’. The objective is to attract young professionals who have domain knowledge in law and accountancy. To begin with, 50 such professionals (the cut-off age is 35 years) will be appointed to aid departmental representatives (DRs) in conducting research to strengthen the revenue’s arguments in appeals before the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT). The scheme will initially run for two years and will be evaluated for further extension.
The ITAT is the first level of judicial appeal and is the final fact-finding authority. The party aggrieved by its order, can appeal to the high-court, only if the issue involves a question of law. At present appeals are heard by 63 benches in 27 different locations across India.
The young professionals, who will be attached to offices of departmental representatives across various ITAT benches will be responsible for studying the paper books of listed cases, analysing the judgements which are being relied upon by the taxpayer (opposing party to the litigation), finding judgements that would favour the I-T department, and preparing briefing notes and written submissions. They will be duly mentored and paid a stipend of Rs. 40,000 per month.
According to chartered accountants, in 2017 in the case of Elitecore Technologies, the ITAT-Ahmedabad bench comprising S.S. Godara, judicial member and Pramod Kumar, accountant member, had pointed out the need for such utilisation of young talent, through outsourcing of research and ground work to them.
As per this scheme, 12 young professionals will be absorbed in the Mumbai region, followed by Delhi with nine, and five will be assigned to Gujarat. The batch of 50 will be spread across the country.
The process will kick off with an advertisement for applications, which should be out by August 25. So young professionals who are interested should stay tuned.
[The Times of India]
