IRS officer Sudha Sharma is new CBDT chief

NEW DELHI: Senior IRS officer Sudha Sharma has been appointed as the new Chairperson of the Central Board of Direct Taxes in the Finance Ministry.

The orders were issued late today by the ministry, official sources said.

The board, also the administrative authority of the Income Tax department, is the apex body for collection of direct taxes in the country.

Sharma, a 1976-batch Indian Revenue Service officer, has been given the charge after incumbent Poonam Kishore Saxena retired today.

She was till now serving as a member (Legislation and Computerisation) in the seven-member CBDT, which includes the Chairperson.

The officer has served as Director General (Vigilance) of the I-T department in national capital before her appointment to the top body.

Sharma takes over the charge at a time when CBDT and I-T department have been tasked by government with a daunting job of collecting Rs 6.68 lakh crore revenue for 2013-14, up from Rs 5.65 lakh crore in the previous fiscal.