The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet named Neena Kumar, Akhilesh Ranjan and Prasana Kumar Dash as members of the Central Board of Direct Taxes

The government has appointed three new members to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), which currently has only two members apart from the chairman.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has named three 1982 batch revenue service officers as members of the apex direct tax policy making body. Neena Kumar, Akhilesh Ranjan and Prasana Kumar Dash are the newly appointed members, according to a note issued by the department of personnel.

The appointments assume significance since the under-staffed direct tax authority is currently on a drive to add new taxpayers, achieve an over 14% growth in tax receipts in the current fiscal, improve services to its customers and recover dues from corporations.

CBDT has one more vacancy to be filled, someone to handle investigations, a charge currently with chairman Sushil Chandra. At present, member PC Mody handles administration, revenue and taxpayer services, while Aditya Vikram, handles IT, computerization, audit and judicial matters.

While direct tax receipts are making a steady double-digit growth in line with economic expansion, the tax authority has been increasingly employing technology to keep human interface very limited by using technology and intensive data analytics.