Yes. If your goal is specifically to become an IRS officer in Customs & Indirect Taxes, you enter through the UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE). You do not apply separately for “Customs IRS.” IRS (Customs & Indirect Taxes), Group A is one of the services filled through CSE.

1. Basic eligibility

For the 2026 UPSC CSE, the main requirements were:

Requirement	2026 rule
Education	Graduate degree or equivalent
Age	21–32 years as on 1 August 2026
SC/ST relaxation	Up to 5 years
OBC relaxation	Up to 3 years, subject to eligibility
Nationality	Indian citizen and certain other categories specified by UPSC
Attempts	General/EWS: 6; OBC: 9; SC/ST: unlimited, subject to other eligibility rules

The degree can be in any stream—commerce, science, arts, engineering, medicine, law, etc. UPSC does not require a special Customs or taxation degree. UPSC

Important: Your age is checked against the date specified in that year's notification. So always check the notification for the year in which you apply.

2. The UPSC route

The path is essentially:

Graduation
↓
UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination
↓
UPSC Civil Services Main Examination
↓
Interview / Personality Test
↓
Final Rank
↓
Service Allocation
↓
IRS (Customs & Indirect Taxes), Group A
↓
Training
↓
Assistant Commissioner
↓
Senior Customs/CBIC positions

UPSC describes CSE as two successive stages: Preliminary, followed by Main Examination consisting of written papers and the Interview/Personality Test. UPSC

3. Stage 1 — UPSC Preliminary Examination

Prelims is a screening examination. Its marks are not added to your final ranking. UPSC

There are two papers:

Paper I — General Studies

200 marks

Topics include areas such as:

Current affairs
Indian history
Geography
Indian polity
Economy
Environment
Science and technology

Paper II — CSAT

200 marks

It tests areas such as:

Reading comprehension
Logical reasoning
Analytical ability
Basic numeracy
Data interpretation
Decision-making/problem solving

CSAT is qualifying, with a minimum of 33%. UPSC applies negative marking to the objective papers; for a wrong answer, one-third of the marks assigned to that question is deducted. UPSC

Very important

You don't need to score extremely high in CSAT. You need to clear the qualifying requirement, while your GS Paper I performance is what determines whether you move to Mains.

4. Stage 2 — UPSC Mains

This is where the competition becomes much more serious.

The 2026 structure has 9 written papers:

Paper	Subject	Marks
A	Indian Language	300
B	English	300
I	Essay	250
II	GS-I	250
III	GS-II	250
IV	GS-III	250
V	GS-IV – Ethics	250
VI	Optional Subject Paper 1	250
VII	Optional Subject Paper 2	250

The Indian Language and English papers are qualifying and aren't counted toward ranking. The remaining written papers contribute 1,750 marks. UPSC

Then comes the interview.

5. Stage 3 — UPSC Interview

The Personality Test carries 275 marks.

Therefore:

Mains written: 1,750

Interview: 275

Final merit: 2,025 marks

The final ranking is based on the Mains written marks plus the Personality Test. UPSC

The interview isn't simply a test of memorized facts. UPSC says it is intended to assess a candidate's suitability for a career in public service, including qualities revealed through a natural, purposeful conversation. UPSC

6. How do you actually get IRS Customs?

This is the part many candidates misunderstand.

You don't simply say:

"I passed UPSC, therefore I become Customs officer."

Instead:

Your final rank + your service preferences + available vacancies + applicable allocation rules

determine the service you receive.

UPSC's 2026 rules require candidates to indicate their order of preference for participating services. Final ranking is determined from Mains and Interview marks, and services are allocated considering rank and preferences. UPSC

So if your goal is IRS (Customs & Indirect Taxes), you should include it among your service preferences.

And remember there are two IRS services:

IRS (Income Tax)
IRS (Customs & Indirect Taxes)

You need to specify your preference appropriately.

7. What happens after selection?

Once selected for IRS (Customs & Indirect Taxes), you undergo professional training.

The training is conducted through the National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes & Narcotics (NACIN).

NACIN's current information describes the direct-recruit IRS(C&IT) training as beginning after the Foundation Course, followed by approximately a year of professional training. Officer trainees learn about Customs, GST and other indirect-tax areas, with field visits and attachments to institutions such as the Coast Guard, Wildlife Institute and National Police Academy. NACIN

The training isn't just classroom study. It covers practical areas such as:

Customs law
GST
Indirect taxation
Investigation
Intelligence
Search and seizure
Audit
Valuation
Documentation
Enforcement
Adjudication
International trade
Administration
Leadership

NACIN also provides on-the-job training in field formations followed by further training before completion of the induction programme. NACIN

8. Your first designation

After selection and training, you enter the service as an:

Assistant Commissioner

NACIN's joining documentation for direct-recruit IRS(C&IT) probationers identifies the designation as Assistant Commissioner. NACIN

You can then work in different CBIC formations and specialized areas.

For example, CBIC has functions involving:

Customs
GST/indirect taxes
Investigation
Intelligence
Audit
Anti-smuggling
Tax administration
Legal/adjudication
Analytics
Training

There are also specialized directorates such as DRI (Directorate of Revenue Intelligence) and DGGI (Directorate General of GST Intelligence). NACIN

9. Career progression

The career can progress through increasingly senior CBIC positions.

A simplified picture is:

Assistant Commissioner
↓
Deputy Commissioner
↓
Joint Commissioner
↓
Additional Commissioner
↓
Commissioner
↓
Chief Commissioner
↓
Principal Chief Commissioner

CBIC's current officer-strength information lists these senior IRS(C&IT) levels, including Principal Chief Commissioner, Chief Commissioner, Principal Commissioner, Commissioner, Additional/Joint Commissioner and Deputy/Assistant Commissioner. CBIC

The actual timing of promotion is governed by applicable service rules, vacancies, seniority and other conditions, so don't treat the above as a fixed year-by-year timetable.

10. What does an IRS Customs officer actually do?

This is quite different from the image of a person simply checking luggage at an airport.

An IRS(C&IT) officer can be involved in tax administration, Customs administration, investigation, enforcement and adjudication.

Depending on the posting, work may involve:

Imports/exports → Customs assessment → Valuation → Tax/duty issues → Investigation → Intelligence → Anti-smuggling → GST/indirect tax administration → Adjudication

You could potentially work in a field formation, a port/airport-related Customs environment, headquarters, or a specialized CBIC/DOR formation.

So if you are interested in international trade, taxation, economics, investigation and government administration, this service can be particularly relevant.

11. A simple example

Suppose Rahul has a B.Com degree.

He does:

B.Com
→ prepares for UPSC
→ clears Prelims
→ clears Mains
→ appears for Interview
→ obtains a final rank sufficient for his preferred service based on the year's vacancies/allocation
→ gets IRS (Customs & Indirect Taxes)
→ Foundation Course
→ NACIN professional training
→ field/on-the-job training
→ joins as Assistant Commissioner

That's the complete route.

12. One important point about rank

If your only objective is:

"I want to become a Customs IRS officer."

then don't think of UPSC simply as "pass/fail."

Your real objective is:

Get a sufficiently strong final rank + put IRS (Customs & Indirect Taxes) appropriately in your service preferences + meet the allocation requirements.

In 2026, UPSC listed approximately 933 total CSE vacancies, but that figure covers all participating services, not just IRS Customs. The final number can change. UPSC

Current 2026 reference

The 2026 UPSC notification was issued on 4 February 2026, with the Preliminary Examination scheduled for 24 May 2026. UPSC's official notification explicitly lists Indian Revenue Service (Customs & Indirect Taxes), Group 'A' among the participating services. UPSC

UPSC Civil Services Examination 2026 notification

NACIN — National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes & Narcotics

If you're asking for yourself, I can also check your age + education + number of UPSC attempts and tell you whether you are currently eligible for IRS Customs through UPSC, and what your realistic route would be.

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