About the Department

The Department of Revenue is led by the Secretary (Revenue) under the overall direction and supervision of the Union Finance Minister. It exercises monitoring, supervision and administration in respect of matters relating to all the Direct and Indirect Union Taxes through two statutory Boards namely, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC). Each Board is headed by a chairman who is also ex officio Special Secretary to the Government of India (Secretary level). Matters relating to the levy and collection of all Direct taxes are looked after by the CBDT whereas those relating to levy and collection of GST, Customs Duty, Central Excise duties and other Indirect taxes fall within the purview of the CBIC. The two Boards were constituted under the Central Board of Revenue Act, 1963. At present, the CBDT has six Members and the CBIC has six Members.

Further as per the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 the Department is entrusted with the functions and responsibilities relating to, mainly the following :

Grants-in-aid to the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy;
Stamp duties on bills of exchange, cheques, promissory notes, bills of lading, letters of credit, policies of insurance, transfer of shares, debentures, proxies and receipts;
income tax (except matters relating to the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal), corporation tax, capital gains tax, estate duty, wealth tax, expenditure tax, gift tax and also matters relating to Railway Passenger Fares Act.
Administration of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act 1988 (45 of 1988);
Administration of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (61 of 1985);
Administration of erstwhile Excise Duty Tax in the Union Territories, i.e. all matters relating to-
- alcoholic liquors for human consumption;
- opium, Cannabis (Indian Hemp) and other Narcotic Drugs and Narcotics;
- All matters relating to cultivation of opium poppy, manufacture of opium derivatives from such opium and poppy straw, sale of such opium and opium alkaloids and exercise of control thereon.
- All matters relating to international conventions, agreements, protocols, etc., in respect of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursor chemicals which the Department of Revenue and organizations under it are authorized to deal with except matters allocated to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
All matters relating to Customs (Sea, Air and Land) including the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975), Tariff Valuations, Customs Cooperation Council, Customs nomenclature and similar matters, duties on goods imported or exported; prohibitions and restrictions on imports and exports under the Customs Act; and interpretation of Customs Tariff;
Matters relating to Goods and Services Tax (GST) and erstwhile Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 (5 of 1986) and service tax administration;
Preventive detention for the purposes of conservation of augmentation of foreign exchange and prevention of smuggling activities and matters connected therewith (COFEPOSA);
Administration of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002;
Enforcement, viz., investigation, and adjudication of cases arising out of breaches under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (1999); Directorate General of Revenue Intelligence and Directorate of Enforcement;
All matters relating to Economic Intelligence;
All matters covered by the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act, 1976 (SAFEMA);
All Matters relating to the Tribunal of :
- ITAT
- AT SAFEMA
- CESTAT
- PMLAT
- GSTAT
Deal in matters relating Establishment, Vigilance, Appointment, Recruitment Rules etc. for the Subordinate Organizations, namely viz :
- Income Tax Department
- Customs Department
- Goods and Service Tax Department
- Directorate of Enforcement
- Central Bureau of Narcotics
- Chief Controller of Factories (GOAW Neemuch and Ghazipur)
- Central Economic Intelligence Bureau
- Financial Intelligence Unit
- Goods and Service Tax Network
- Prevention of Illicit Traffic In Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Department.