I speak from my experience.
Recognition
One reason why many people write the civil service exam is the recognition the job brings you. Your designation is self explanatory. It is something that had kept me going many a nights during preparation. This is one thing that is lacking majorly in IA&AS. An IA&AS officer is no doubt recognized in Government circles because Audit is a very important area. But the general public many a times fails to recognize you. Once the days are past where you bask in the glory of your Civil Service Rank that excitement is lost. In IRS that is something you enjoy in every interaction with a second person.
One time while I was in a flight and I got talking to the lady sitting next to me. She was the owner of a major eye hospital in Tamil Nadu. When I told her I am undergoing training as Assistant Accountant General in Shimla, she asked me the name of my company. Subsequently having to explain that you work for the CAG and then inevitably the conversation veering to the telecom spectrum scam and Coal scam are all taxing and pretty repetitive.
In IRS, you tell anyone you are an Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax, the explanation stops. Then again the conversation veers into raids (Search and Seizure Operation) and gets pretty repetitive and taxing 😄. However, the recognition and many a times awe in the ears of the other person is something every aspirant has once dreamt of. This was one reason that I chose the IRS over IA&AS. I’m not saying this matters for everyone or that it is everlasting. But for me, having left a very good private job, just a comparable one in the government sector was not enough.
Thrill
Working in the Income Tax Department as an IRS officer is a very thrilling experience. There is just the right mix of desk job and field work. As an officer, you go on Surveys,. Searches, Outreach programmes etc.
On Surveys and Searches that moment when you strike really brings up an adrenaline rush. The state confers upon you such intrusive power to make sure that a tax evader doesn’t go scot free. I’ve had assessee’s cry and beg before me once their hoarded cash or documents have been found in the premise. However, as a responsible officer you just go ahead and do your duty without in anyway misusing or abusing your power. However, the thrill is just amazing.
Another area which not many people elaborate upon is the powers similar to that of a Court of Law that an Officer enjoys. You have the power to summon people and record their statements with respect to the proceedings underway before you. You examine witnesses, provide opportunity to cross examine the witness to the assessee and in doing all this you are having the powers similar to that of a civil court. You are a quasi judicial authority in these matters. You are at the same time working as an officer of the state responsible for revenue and an impartial administrator of tax laws. There is no greater joy than breaking the lies a witness/assessee tells during examination. There is another thing to be noted here. Unlike the police, which in many cases resort to third degree, the examination of witness in Income Tax proceedings is an exercise in intellect. A tax man will just smile to you throughout the proceeding with no threats or coercion coming your way. However, without any use of power, the evasion is brought to the fore
These are not the kind of thrills you get in Audit. In IRS, you are a court, investigator, administrator etc. The thrill element is something I wanted and therefore IRS (IT) was preferred by me above IA&AS.
Stability
In IRS, the stability of postings you get is better. You are able to remain in a region for upto 18 years in your career. Out of this 8–10 years can be continuous. This is something that almost impossible in IA&AS. You are transferred out in 3–5 years. Besides has a very well laid of transfer policy which is violated in exception. In IA&AS no such thing exists as far as I know.
When you are a bachelor and your parents also don’t need you, these things might seem silly. However, I entered the service after I was well settled in my life and therefore I wanted stability with respect to my postings. Therefore I preferred IRS above IA&AS.
Another major factor is the number of cities available to choose from.
For example let’s look at Pune Region w.r.t IRS
The following cities are available to choose from.
- Nashik
- Malegaon
- Jalgaon
- Dhule
- Latur
- Jalna
- Nanded
- Pune
- Thane
- Kalyan
- Palghar
- Sholapur
- Satara
- Sangli
- Ichalkaranji
- Kohlapur
- Ratnagiri
Compare this with the following in Audit
- Pune
Thats it! Now the above was just for Pune Region. In Maharashtra Mumbai and Nagpur regions remain. And all the above stations have ACIT posts available. In audit the AAG posts are available in Pune, Mumbai and Nagpur. There might be two three more stations but not more. Therefore with respect to postings there is absolutely no comparison.
Original Work
In IRS you are doing original work. That is you are assessing income, investigating, etc. However in audit you audit work that another person has done. I’m not saying that one is superior to the other. But I thought that I wanted to be able to do original, current work. In Audit, the work has already been done. You are more like an invigilator who keeps the government on course.
This was another reason I chose IRS over IA&AS.
Contacts
As an IRS officer, by virtue of the job, you get in touch with the who’s who of the town you are in. Audit doesn’t give you the opportunity for that kind of interaction. You are confined to government circles. In a way this helps you understand the pulse of the business in your city. Nothing of the sort in Audit.
These are some of the reasons I chose IRS over IA&AS. This is in no way the exhaustive list.This is also in no way saying that IRS is superior to IA&AS. There are days I think I made a bad decision because of certain advantages IA&AS have over IRS. However you can’t have everything. Every service offers some advantages and have some disadvantages. The so called service superiority is confined to very few petty matters. The ones who flash that everywhere are generally not the brand ambassadors of their service, but the ones who are still living in their preparation day misgivings.