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IRS Officer :Eligibility, Salary & Exam Details
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Written by Mumtaj Khan
Mar 04, 2026

IRS Officer :Eligibility, Salary & Exam Details

The fourth most respected Civil Service officer is IRS officer after the officers of IAS, IPS, and IFS. They include IRS (C&CE) and IRS (IT). The IRS officers are also interested in direct (Income, Corporate, Wealth, FBT etc.) and indirect (Central Excise, Service Tax and even Customs Duty) taxes collection, administration and policy formation. These are the Indian tax administrators. These are either under the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) or Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) in the Department of Revenue under the Ministry of Finance.

These are the officers who bear the responsibility of keeping in check the proper collection of the revenue of the Governments either Central or State which is a large source of income of the respective Governments concerned. The revenue is the one that the respective Governments use to implement the welfare programmes on the common people of the state. One can, therefore, say these officers have the indirect duty over the proper functioning of the welfare schemes in the sense that they raise the requisite funds to the welfare schemes by way of collecting the revenue of the governments in an effective way making this profession a very important one.

This career does not only bring self-fulfilment of being in the most senior and best-respected Indian administrative system post, but also the opportunity to render service to the community through assuming responsibility on some of the anti-social aspects of the nation.

However, to attain this desirable status, one must be very hard working. One must have worked hard almost 2 years and take a rigorous test which includes written tests and interview stretching over a year which nearly involves self discipline, patience, punctuality, commitment self confidence and desire so badly to be in the top tier of a very significant organization of the country to reach up to that level. The is a sort of carrier that will never leave you at peace you have to work harder after getting the job than before getting the job.

Being an (IRS) officer is not a bad thing. When you like power then you must also accept the responsibility in the unlimited power. It is not a time bound job, good team spirit, stamina, alertness of mind, and adaptability to work long hours to meet tough time schedules are required to handle things in an effective way. This is a carrier where not only are you expected to work only but you must make your team work hard on behalf of the society you have made a vow to serve when you join this career.

To be an IRS Officer, one must be eligible.

Educational Qualification : The candidate has to have a degree in Indian University or some other equivalent to become an IRS officer. Students in the final year of a degree course are also eligible to take the Preliminary Examination which is conducted by UPSC annually.

Age : The candidate should be at least 21 years of age on 1 st August of the year of examination, and he or she should not be older than 30 years on the 1 st August of the year of examination.

  • The age restriction will be allowed to be relaxed by 3 years to OBC candidates and by 5 years to the SC/ST candidates.
  • The age limit is also put at a lenient age to favor Defense Services Personnel.

Other Eligibility Requirements

Given that these services are associated with different types of decision making therefore considering the sensitivity of the job the aspirants must be qualified in specific terms as listed below.

  • a citizen of India, or
  • a subject of Nepal, or
  • a subject of Bhutan, or
  • an expelled Tibetan who had landed prior to January 1, 1962 in India, or with the object of residing permanently in India, or
  • a citizen of Indian origin who has migrated to Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, countries of East Africa of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia and Vietnam with her permanent intention of settling in India.

How to become an IRS officer?

The steps that one has to adopt to become an IRS officer include the following:

Step 1 : To begin with, the aspirant must obtain Application Form and Information Brochure in any of the Head Post Offices/Post offices that are scattered around the country and forward duly filled Application form to:

The Secretary,

Union Public Service Commission,

Dholpur House,

New Delhi - 110011

Note:- Examination notification with the pertinent information about rules and syllabus is announced in the month of December in the 'Employment News' / ' Rozgar Samachar', 'Gazette of India' and in some major Newspapers of the country.

Step 2 : During May or June the aspirants are required to pass through the Preliminary examinations. Consisting of two papers. The papers are of

S.NoPaperMarks
1General Studies150 marks
2Optional Paper300 marks

The second paper is optional, and it can be selected out of the following given subjects -1. Agriculture 2. Animal Husbandry and veterinary science 3. Botany 4. Chemistry 5. Civil Engineering 6. Commerce 7.Economics 8. Geography 10 Electrical Engineering 9. Geology 11.Indian History 12.Law 13. Mathematics 14.Mechanical Engineering 15. Philosophy 16. Physics 17. Political Science 18. Psychology 19. Public Administration 20. Sociology 21. Statistics 22. Zoology

Note:- This exam is a qualifying exam to final exam and the marks achieved in this exam are not accumulated in coming up with final outcome.

Step 3 : The candidates that are declared eligible in the Preliminary examination are expected to give the final examination (usually in the month of October) with the following papers.

S.NoPaperMarks
11 Essay type Indian Language Qualifying Paper300 marks
21 English Qualifying Paper300 marks
31 General Essay type paper200 marks
42 General Studies papers300 marks each
54 Optional subjects papers300 marks each

Step 4 : The last phase is the interview. The interview is a grilling exercise to check the personality and mental capacity of the aspirants. The final list of the successful then is prepared and those candidates who have obtained a very good rank out of 400-450(approx.) are selected IRS Officer Trainees (also known as OTs) and just undergo a 3 month foundational training with fellow officers in All India Services and other Central Services (Group A) in Lal Bahadur National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) Mussorrie (Uttarakhand) and then subjected to a 15 month rigorous professional training at NACEN Faridabad in the case of the officers Public Policy and Law.

IRS Officer Job Description

IRS Officers are disturbed with compiling, administering, and making of policy of direct and indirect tax. It is because of this fact that the IRS officers are commonly referred to as Tax administrators of India. The development, security and governance functions of an IRS Officer are the most important as they involve a collection of revenue. The simple task of IRS officers is a set of Tax such as Income Tax, Central Excise Tax, Customs Duty and currently, Service Tax. An IAS is a high ranking officer within the Civil Service of the executive arm of the Government of India.

Prospects in the career of IRS officers

  • Began with the exalted position of
  • Assistant Commissioner (Starting of the ladder)
  • IRS officers rise up to
  • Chief Commissioner
  • some of the very fortunate ones reached the post of
  • Member/Chairman CBDT / CBEC (Top of the ladder).

IRS Officer Salary/Pay Scale

The Government of India has set salary grades on IRS officers. Though continue to change with new pay.
Note: The scales will give a rough conception of the pay scales. The pay of various branches of the services varies. Even the staff of the same branches can receive different salaries based on the area of their location and the duty they are performing at a given time. Besides the salary that IRS officers are also given different forms of allowances like Dearness Allowance, City compensatory allowance, Leave travel allowances and Medical and subsidized housing.

Frequently Asked Questions

An IRS Officer (Indian Revenue Service Officer) is a civil servant responsible for tax administration, revenue collection, and enforcement of income tax and customs laws in India.
By clearing the Civil Services Examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
A bachelor’s degree in any stream from a recognized university.
21–32 years (General category), with relaxation for OBC and SC/ST.
Starting salary is ₹56,100 per month plus allowances and government benefits.
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