The duties of the IRS (C&IT) include formulation and enforcement of policy concerning the Goods and Services Tax, prevention of smuggling and administration of matters related to Customs and Narcotics.

[7] After selection, successful candidates undergo a 3-month Foundation Course at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in Mussoorie, Uttarakhand,[8] Thereafter, IRS (C&IT) Officer Trainees (or known as OTs) undergo specialised training at National Academy of Customs Indirect Taxes and Narcotics (NACIN), in Palasamudram located in Sri Sathya Sai District, Andhra Pradesh.

The functions of NACIN is specified in CBIC office order No.06/Ad.IV/2017 on 12 June 2017 which states that NACIN will undertake training and other capacity training activities in the field of Customs, Indirect Taxes, and Narcotics including, Any other capacity building activity as may be assigned by CBIC from time to time, besides carrying out normal administrative and establishment functions.

Recently, Finance Ministry has approved exchange of officer trainees to various countries across the world such as Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, France, Australia, Malaysia, United States of America, Brazil, South Africa and OECD Nations for increasing exposure to the future administrators.

While administering indirect taxes, they formulate and implement policies, discharge the functions of an investigator, quasi-judicial authority, prosecutor and negotiator of International Agreements etc.

Their main roles could be briefly described as under:[2] The designations and time-scales within the Indian Revenue Service are as follows after cadre restructure:[11] In 2015, it was reported that as many as 108 IRS officers were under probe by the CBI for their alleged involvement in corruption.

[18] Recently, in another case, some IRS officials were found to help certain companies evade payment of Service tax and related penalties of the order of ₹1 crore.

[19] Also CBI raided premises of an income tax officer for demanding Bribe to the tune of ₹60 crore for covering up Stock Guru Scam.

While this indicates a democratic scenario where every competent worker can aspire to rise up in the hierarchy but no safeguards have been put in place to ensure merit of the promoted candidates.

According to the Economic Times, Severe shortages may be negatively impacting the government's ability to scrutinise returns and catch instances of black money.

[23] Many new initiatives were taken by the Indian Revenue Service members to curb corruption in their respective departments and make the system more efficient and responsive to the needs of the tax payers.

[24] Introduction of E-filing of Taxes[25] and effective implementation of Permanent Account Number (PAN) are some revolutionary steps that reduced the scope for corruption at all levels while improving the efficiency of the whole system.

[30] An IRS officer could rise up-to the Apex Scale (Rs.2,25,000 fixed plus allowances) at the post of principal chief commissioner of income tax in the ITD.