Tax collectors engaged in mopping up customs, central excise and service tax have demanded that top officials of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) be paid a monthly salary of Rs 1,32,000.

In a memorandum to the Sixth Pay Commission, the Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise) Association has suggested that the post of the CBEC chairman be upgraded to that of Principal Secretary and he be paid as much as the Cabinet Secretary.

The association also demanded that the CBEC be upgraded to a Department and the retirement age of officers be raised to 62 years.

At present, CBEC chairman gets a fixed salary of Rs 26,000 while the starting salary of an IRS officer, excluding other allowances, is Rs 8,000.

Making a case for market-linked emoluments, the association demanded that the starting salary of an IRS officer should be Rs 26,400 per month, going up to Rs 1,32,000 per month for Members, who should be ranked at par with Secretary in the central government.

The association also demanded harmonised service conditions for All India Services and suggested that same batch officers be simultaneously considered for appointment of Joint Secretary, Additional Secretary and Secretary.

The association further suggested to the sixth pay panel that separate units be set up for Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and collecting service tax.

The CBEC, which currently has a cadre of 2,130 officers, collected Rs 2,40,000 crore in 2006-07 as customs, central excise and service and is expected to mop up Rs Rs 2,79,000 crore during 2007-08.