Section 3 is the source of the Centre's administrative machinery for IGST. It does not create a separate IGST cadre: the central tax officers appointed under the CGST Act are the officers who administer IGST.
Key points
- Section 3 of the IGST Act, 2017 empowers the Board — the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs — to appoint central tax officers to exercise powers under the IGST Act.
- Section 3 came into force on 22.06.2017, ahead of the levy, so that officers could be in place before 01.07.2017.
- State and Union territory tax officers act as proper officers for IGST under section 4, not section 3.
The provisions
3Appointment of central tax officers
Statutory text
The Board may appoint such central tax officers as it thinks fit for exercising the powers under this Act.
Statutory text as published on the CBIC tax information portal, as on 03.10.2026; the numbered notes record each amendment. Official source
Common questions
- Who appoints officers under the IGST Act?
- The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs appoints central tax officers under section 3 of the IGST Act; State and UT tax officers act for IGST through section 4.
- Is there a separate cadre of IGST officers?
- No. The central tax officers appointed under the CGST Act exercise the IGST powers; section 20 applies the CGST Act's provisions on officers to IGST.
Commentary and case notes checked against the judgments and CBIC sources on 04.10.2026.
What it means
"Board" is not defined in the IGST Act; under section 2(24) it takes the CGST Act meaning — the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs constituted under the Central Boards of Revenue Act, 1963.
The ranks of central tax officers, and how they are appointed, are in Chapter II of the CGST Act (sections 3 to 5). Section 3 of the IGST Act lets the Board appoint those officers "as it thinks fit" for IGST; section 20 then applies the CGST Act's provisions on officers, proper officers and their powers to IGST.
Which officer may do what — register, assess, adjudicate — turns on the "proper officer" assignment made under the CGST Act, read through section 20. An action by an officer to whom the function was never assigned is open to challenge for want of jurisdiction.