New Delhi, June 28 : The government has extended the tenure of Ravi Agrawal as the Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) by another year. The CBDT is the apex policymaking body of the Income Tax Department, and its chairman and members are senior Indian Revenue Service officers.

'The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved re-appointment of Ravi Agrawal, IRS as Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes on contract basis, for a period of one year with effect from July 1, 2025 till June 30, 2026 or until further orders, whichever is earlier,' the government order stated.

The re-appointment will be on the usual terms and conditions applicable to re-employed Central government officers, in relaxation of the Recruitment Rules.

Agarwal, a 1988 batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer from the income tax cadre, had succeeded Nitin Gupta, 1986 batch IRS officer, in June 2024 as Chairman of the CBDT. He was serving as a member of the CBDT (Administration) from July 2023 before his appointment as chairman.

The CBDT is headed by a chairman and can have six members who are in the rank of special secretary.

Meanwhile, CBDT has asked all the principal chief commissioners of Income Tax to exercise effective supervision over their assessing officers and make sure that questions sent by them to a taxpayer are justified, and that irrelevant queries are completely avoided.

The apex body has directed Income Tax Department officials to ensure due application of mind while issuing notices for scrutiny and assessment of a taxpayer's return, emphasising that all queries should be relevant and specific.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman earlier this week asked income-tax officials to ensure that tax compliance processes are made simpler, more transparent and taxpayer-friendly.

The Finance Minister also directed all principal chief commissioners of income tax to prioritise and accelerate the disposal of disputed tax demands that are currently pending before the faceless appellate authorities, the finance ministry said in a statement.

About 577,000 appeals were pending at the start of the current fiscal year. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is targeting to address more than 225,000 appeals in FY 2025-26 involving over Rs 10 lakh crore of disputed demand.

The Finance Minister highlighted that prompt and time-bound disposal of taxpayer grievances is essential for ensuring responsive governance.

/IANS