NEW DELHI, Mar 16, 2006 : NORMALLY, Union Budget does not unveil anything which may impact the Annual General Transfers, ritually undertaken every year, by both the Revenue Boards. But the Budget 2006 has indirectly set a dealine for transfer-loving babus in CBDT in particular. The assessment period of one year which normally ends by March 31 is proposed to be advanced to December 31. In other words, the Income Tax field formations are going to get only nine months to wrap up all assessments as per the provision.

So, if it is to be done, all the officials who have to do assessments and supervise them have to be put in place as late as April 15. Given that one officer takes another 45 days to settle down at new place alongwith his/her household goods and getting their children admitted to new schools, effectively the assessment period gets reduced to only seven months - a tight schedule indeed!

Anyway, if this is the deadline then CBDT transfer managers have to pull up their socks and wrap up all the transfers as late as April first week. And they are on the job. The Placement Committee is busying placing CITs as per the policy guidelines notified last year. It is learnt that the CBDT internal target is to issue the CITs' order by the month-end. Soon will follow other orders of Addl CIT / JCITs and DCITs/ACITs also.

Going by the transfer policy there are going to be large orders for each category and the IRS Associations appear to have given up their hope of seeing any amendments in the guidelines. Some efforts were made to impress the bosses for some drastic change but it has not yeilded any dividends to the Associations. Even the ban on opting for deputation continues as all the initial promises made to look into the rationale of such a ban have evaporated in thin air.

Same is the case with CBEC which also had its Placement Committee meeting last week to finalise the Commissioners' transfer order. The work is progressing in full swing and, given the pressure of the New Transfer Policy, the entire Board, for a change, is more worried about placing officers in the transfer lists rather than last moment revenue monitoring.

This is to be now seen to what extent both the Revenue Boards manage to catch the deadlines and also enforce some of the most impractical transfer guidelines this year.