How to Become Income Tax Officer in India (2024 Guide)

Income Tax Officer is a highly reputed and powerful profession in Income Tax Department. It works to see and ensure whether the tax collection is being done in a proper way or not and If someone is not paying tax and evading tax, then the work of collecting tax from that person is also done by the Income Tax Department.

As I said it is a very popular profession in which many people dream of becoming Income Tax Officers or Inspectors. Are you one of those who want to make a career by becoming an Income Tax Officer? If yes, and discovering the complete procedure about how to become an Income Tax Officer then you are at the right place. In this article, I will discuss the full process of how to become an Income tax officer.

An Income Tax Inspector is an officer in the Income Tax Department who comes under the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government of India. It is one of the popular government jobs in India which is very difficult to get as the candidates have to clear multiple levels of exams and an interview. Also, the selection rate is very low because the vacancies come out very less and the number of people who apply for the form is very high.

What is Income Tax Officer (ITO)?

Income Tax Officer is a high-grade level person who works in the Income Tax Department. The job of the Income Tax Officer is that they see the income reports of the people and find such types of people who earn a lot of money outside the record but do not file the income tax return for that money.

Also, The Income Tax Officer has the power to access all kinds of financial papers, bonds, cash, liabilities, assets, luxuries etc. to determine your exact income. So that they can know whether you are giving income tax returns according to your income or not.

Income Tax Officer Eligibility

Candidates must have to fulfil these eligibility criteria in order to become Income Tax officers. The eligibility criteria are as follows:

Qualification for Income Tax Officer

• Candidates must have a graduation degree from a recognized university.
• All discipline aspirants are eligible to become Income Tax Officers.
• Candidates must be a citizen of India.

Age Limit for Income Tax Officer

• General Category:- Candidates must be between 17 to 30 years of age.
• OBC Category:- Candidates must be between 17 to 33 years of age.
• SC/ST:- Candidates must be between 17 to 33 years of age.

Also Read:- How to Become a Collector in India?

Income Tax Officer Salary

The salary of an Income Tax Officer i.e. inspector depends on various factors such as what state are you working for, experience, how many years have you been working, work profile, etc. On average the salary of an Income Tax Officer is Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 60,000 monthly i.e. Rs. 4,80,000 to Rs. 7,20,000 annually along with grade pay.

Average Salary:- ₹4,80,000 – ₹7,20,000 per annum.

Income Tax Officer Exams

There are mainly two types of exams, out of which you can become an Income Tax Officer by clearing all the levels of any one exam. The exams to become Income Tax Officer are as follows:

1. SSC-CGL Exam
2. UPSC Civil Services Exam

SSC-CGL Exam

The SSC-CGL stands for Staff Selection Commission – Combined Graduate Level exam. It is a popular competitive exam that the Staff Selection Commission of India conducts for the recruitment of various government jobs. After qualifying for this exam one becomes Income Tax Officer. So, candidates have to appear at all levels of the SSC-CGL exam and qualify for each of them. The Staff Selection Commission of India conducts the SSC-CGL exam in four stages.

1. Tier-1 (Preliminary Exam)
2. Tier-2 (Mains Exam)
3. Tier-3 (Interview)
4. Tier-4 (Skill Test)

1. Preliminary Exam (Tier-1)

It is an online mode-based exam containing two papers. One is General Intelligence & General Awareness and another is Arithmetic. Each paper contains a total of 100 objective-type questions with a maximum of 100 marks. Also, the duration of each paper is 2 hours.

2. Mains Exam (Tier-2)

After qualifying for the Preliminary Exam you can appear in the Mains Exam. The details of the main exam are as follows:

Subject	Duration	Total Marks
General Studies (Reasoning and Awareness)	3 Hours	200
English Comprehension	2 Hours 20 Minutes	100
Arithmetic Abilities	4 Hours	200
Language	2 Hours 20 Minutes	100
Communication Skills and Writing	2 Hours 20 Minutes	200

3. Interview (Tier-3)

After qualifying for the main exam you move to the next stage i.e. personality test or interview. The Staff Selection Commission of India conducts an interview round for the candidates who successfully clear the SSC-CGL mains exam.

In this stage, your thinking, personality, and situation-handling power will be tested in offline mode by the respected authorities. In this stage, you will be selected on the basis of your performance. So, give your 100% in this interview.

4. Skill Test (Tier-4)

The last stage is the skill test. After clearing the interview, you may not even have to give this test, you may also have a direct selection. In this stage, your speed typing test is done.

Eligibility for SSC-CGL Exam

• Candidates must have a bachelor’s degree in any discipline.
• The candidate’s age should be between 18 years to 27 years.
• The SC/SC candidates get additional 5 years of relaxation for the upper age limit and the OBC candidates get additional 3 years of relaxation for the upper age limit.
• The employees working under Defense Services and the Government of India also get relaxation in the upper age limit.
• Physical Fitness for Male Candidates:- The height should be 157.5 cm and the chest should be 81 cm (fully expanded with a minimum expansion of 5 cm). Also, candidates must pass the test of walking 1600 metres in 15 minutes duration and cycling 8 kilometres in 30 minutes of duration.
• Physical Fitness for Female Candidates:- The height should be 152 cm and the weight should be 48 kg. Also, female candidates must pass the test of walking 1 kilometre in 20 minutes of duration and cycling 3 kilometres of distance in 25 minutes of duration.
• The vision should be 6/6.

How to Become Income Tax Officer through UPSC

UPSC stands for Union Public Service Commission and is a premier central recruiting agency for central government public servants. The UPSC exam is another way to become an Income Tax Officer directly.

You have to clear the exams and opt for Indian Revenue Services (IRS). So that you can be appointed to the post of higher grade officer in the Income Tax Department. The Union Public Service Commission of India conducts the UPSC services exam for the post of IAS, IPS, IRS, etc. You have to clear all the stages of the UPSC exam. There are three stages in the UPSC exam.

1. Preliminary Examination (Prelims)
2. Mains Examination (Mains)
3. UPSC Personality Test (Interview)

1. UPSC Preliminary Examination

The prelims exam contains 2 papers and the questions are Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs). Each incorrect answer will deduct 1/3rd of the marks of that respective question. The other details are as follows:

Paper Name	Total Questions	Total Marks	Duration
General Studies (Paper I)	100	200	2 Hours
General Studies (CSAT) (Paper-II)	80	200	2 Hours

2. UPSC Mains Examination

Candidates who qualify for UPSC Prelims are eligible for UPSC Mains. The details of the Mains exam are as follows:

S No.	Paper	Paper Name	Marks	Duration
1	Paper – A	Compulsory Indian Language	300	3 Hours
2	Paper – B	English	300	3 Hours
3	Paper-I	Essay	250	3 Hours
4	Paper-II	General Studies I	250	3 Hours
5	Paper-III	General Studies II	250	3 Hours
6	Paper-IV	General Studies III	250	3 Hours
7	Paper-V	General Studies IV	250	3 Hours
8	Paper-VI	Optional Paper I	250	3 Hours
9	Paper-VII	Optional Paper-II	250	3 Hours

3. UPSC Personality Test or Interview

After qualifying in Prelims and Mains you are eligible for the final stage i.e. Interview round. In this round, your personality test is taken by the respected authorities of the UPSC. The interview contains a total of 275 marks. The UPSC personality test will be held only in the UPSC Bhavan in New Delhi.

Eligibility for UPSC Exam

• Aspirants must have a graduation degree in any discipline.
• Aspirants must be citizens of India.
• The minimum age limit of the aspirant is 21 years and the maximum is 32 years.
• The age limit for category aspirants is as follows:
  • General Category:- 21 to 32 years of age.
  • OBC Category:- 21 to 35 years of age.
  • SC/ST Category:- 21 to 37 years of age.
  • EWS:- 21 to 32 years of age.

Income Tax Officer: Role & Responsibilities

• The Income Tax Officer’s duty is to see the income tax assessment.
• Reporting any discrepancy in returns filed by individuals or firms.
• If you are in the assessment section then your work is to manage and verify files. Basically, you have to do office-related work.
• If you are in the non-assessment section you are doing field-related work like finding evidence of any suspects, etc.

Benefits of Income Tax Officer

• Income Tax Officers get transport allowance (TA) as well as house rent allowance.
• Income Tax Officers get a Dearness Allowance (DA) on Total Pay.
• Income Tax Officers get an awesome amount of salary.
• Income Tax Officers get a limited amount of mobile bills.
• On the basis of your work profile, you get a chance of being promoted to high-grade posts.

Steps to Become Income Tax Officer

Step 1:- Apply for the SSC-CGL exam or UPSC civil services exam after completing graduation degree.

Step 2:- Give and Qualify all the levels of examination of your respective exam.

Step 3:- Attend the Interview round of your respective exam.

Step 4:- After that qualify for the physical fitness test.

Step 5:- After that when the result is declared then you must qualify for the cut-off range in order to become an Income Tax Officer.

Step 6:- When you successfully qualify for the cut-off then you are posted for your job.

How to Become Income Tax Officer after 12th

How to become an income tax officer after 12th? This question comes to the mind of many people, but the answer is that no one can become an Income Tax Officer after 12th because the minimum eligibility criteria to sit in the SSC-CGL and UPSC exam through which one become Income Tax Officer is candidates must have qualified in graduation and hold a bachelor degree in any stream. After 12th, you first have to complete the graduation from your interested branch and after that, you are eligible for the exams.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)