Arunish Chawla: Meet the new Revenue Secretary and the key challenges ahead

With the exit of Sanjay Malhotra, the task of steering the revenue department has fallen to Arunish Chawla, who took over as India’s 38th Revenue Secretary on December 26, 2024. Chawla holds a PhD in Economics from the London School of Economics, specialising in International Macroeconomics. His areas of interest include macroeconomic modeling and its linkages with monetary and fiscal policy. A 1992-batch Bihar cadre IAS officer, Chawla is a recipient of the Director’s Gold Medal for best all-round performance at the National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie.

He began his career as Assistant Collector, Sub-divisional Magistrate, and Collector-cum-District Magistrate in six districts of Bihar and Jharkhand. Chawla has worked in various capacities within the Finance Ministries at both the Centre and State levels. He has also served as India’s Minister-Economic to the United States and as Senior Economist at the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC. Before taking on his current role, he was serving as Secretary to the Department of Pharmaceuticals and the Department of Culture.

Key Challenges Ahead

Chawla is now at the helm of the revenue department just a month before the government is set to present its second full budget in the third tenure of PM Narendra Modi’s NDA government.

Both direct and indirect tax collections will remain a key challenge, particularly in the context of a slowing economy and sluggish consumption patterns. Economists anticipate that relief on both the income tax front and through relaxed GST rates could provide a much-needed boost to India’s consumption story.

The Indian middle class, in particular, is hoping for relief from the tax burden to help fulfill its aspirations. Expectations are high for cuts in direct taxes as well as GST relief.

The recent 55th GST Council in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan did not bring in any desired relief, especially on the front of reduced taxes on health and life insurance.

Chawla’s role will be crucial in ensuring the smooth passage of strategic decisions in upcoming GST Councils.

One of the challenges ahead is rate rationalisation, a difficult task requiring balancing the stance of the Centre and bringing states on board. A particularly sticky issue is the compensation cess, which is set to end in March 2026.

The industry also has high hopes for Chawla’s leadership. On the direct tax side, there is a need for a more streamlined and simplified tax law, along with efforts to reduce the litigation burden.

On the indirect tax side, the industry will be closely watching any reworked customs duty list that may be announced in the upcoming budget on February 1, 2025.

Chawla will also oversee key enforcement agencies that prevent revenue leakage and curb anti-national and anti-social activities. These include the investigation wings of the Income Tax Department and GST, along with the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Enforcement Directorate (ED), and others responsible for tackling money laundering, terror financing, and foreign exchange management.

Simplifying tax compliance, improving the ease of doing business, and expanding the tax net are some of the strategic areas that will likely feature on Chawla’s priority list.

Striking a balance between giving comfort to the common man and industry—ensuring that tax notices and scrutiny do not become burdensome—while also safeguarding the country’s revenue is a delicate task that Chawla will need to manage effectively.