MUMBAI: Perhaps for the first time, the income-tax department is tapping into young-talent with domain expertise. Under the ‘young professional scheme‘, the department is looking to attract professionals who have domain knowledge in law and accountancy (such as the chartered accountants and lawyers).

To begin with, 50 such professionals (the cut-off age is 35 years) will be appointed to aid departmental representatives in conducting research to strengthen the revenue’s arguments in appeals before the income-tax appellate tribunal (ITAT). They will analyse past judicial decisions that are being relied upon by the taxpayer (opposing party to the litigation), find judgments that would favour the I-T department, and prepare briefing notes and written submissions. They will be mentored and paid a stipend of Rs 40,000 per month. The scheme will run for two years and then be evaluated for extension.
According to chartered accountants, in the 2017 in the case of Elitecore Technologies, the ITAT-Ahmedabad bench pointed out the need for such utilisation of young talent. The ITAT is the first level of judicial appeal and is the final fact-finding authority. The party aggrieved by its order can appeal to high court only if the issue involves a question of law. At present, appeals are heard by 63 benches in 27 different locations across India.

According to this scheme, 12 young professionals will be absorbed in the Mumbai region, nine by Delhi, and five will be assigned to Gujarat. The batch of 50 will be spread across the country. The process will kick off with an advertisement for applications, which should be out by August 25.