What Is Income Tax Department's Young Professional Scheme? Know Eligibility, Stipend & More

In a first, the Income Tax Department (I-T) is introducing a new scheme where it will hire 50 young professionals to help the department in tax litigation, The Hindu reported.

It is called Young Professional Scheme. The I-T department will rope in 50 skilled professionals to assist departmental representatives (DRs) in conducting research. Their primary objective is to bolster the revenue's arguments in appeals before the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT).

How much will the professionals be paid and the duration?
The scheme is set to operate for an initial period of two years, and its effectiveness will be assessed for potential extension beyond that timeframe. They will be paid Rs 40,000 a month as a stipend.

The most important part every aspirant should know is that they will not get facilities such as DA, accommodation, residential phone/conveyance/transport, foreign travel, personal staff, medical reimbursement, CGHS etc. It is not a regular job and will not get an appointment of any nature in the Income Tax Department.

Also, it will establish an employer-employee relationship between the department and the professionals. In case of death during their association with the department, they will not get compensation.

The advertising part to hire the said number of people will be finished by August 25 and a screening and selection committee will be formed by August 31. Following the committee's recommendations, the selection process will be concluded by October 31, and within the next month, the topics for these professionals will be finalized, the report said.

Out of 50 people, 12 will be hired from Mumbai, 9 in Delhi, 5 from Gujarat, 4 from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and 4 each from West Bengal and Sikkim.

Eligibility
Aspirants should be a law graduate/post-graduate or Chartered Accountants. The age limit is 35 years.

"With a view to augment departmental representation in ITAT, this Scheme envisions engagement of Young Graduates in Law and Accountancy who are rich in domain knowledge. Such resources would aid the departmental officers in preparation of the cases admitted for hearing in Tribunals. In addition, they will also take up research/study work encompassing critical areas of tax litigation for effective litigation management," the Income Tax Department said.