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Plan to increase tax assessors stymied
A high level committee entrusted with absorbing graduate tax officers and senior tax officers or those who hold equal academic and professional qualifications into the Assessors grade in the Inland Revenue Department has been stalled, trade union officials charge.

The unions claim that discussions held to resolve the issue have so far not been completed leaving a shortage of Assessors and hampering the activities of the Department which has been set additional targets regarding collection of taxes.

A union spokesman said that though discussions were initiated on the issue following representations made nearly six months back to Treasury Secretary Dr. P.B.Jayasundara and a steering committee appointed to resolve the issue, no progress has been made.

The unions say one of the major anomalies in the Inland Revenue Service has been that though graduates are recruited to Assessors' Grade and Tax Officers Grade only the Assessors Grade has been delegated statutory powers with regard to taxation.

Tax Officers have not been delegated with the statutory power which creates an anomaly between the two sectors. The unions say the situation was not conducive for the proper functioning of the Department as there is a severe shortage of Assessors, adding that the unresolved grievances of Graduate Tax Officers and inefficient collection of taxes have been the result of years of bad management.

In their discussions the unions have pointed out that the failure to resolve the issue has a serious impact on collecting government tax revenue. Currently there are nearly 350 officers at the management level with statutory powers in taxation while nearly 625 officers have been deprived of such powers.

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