Aiming to give more teeth to the investigation against black money, Income Tax Department hit by staff shortage today said it has sought an additional 22,000 staff to strengthen its various operations.

Besides, the tax department will redeploy its existing manpower towards intelligence gathering, investigations and prosecutions.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is restructuring its organisational structure with a view to focusing on scrutiny of high value tax cases, a senior Finance Ministry official said.

"We have asked for an additional 22,000 staff in different cadre to strengthen our investigations and intelligence," the official said.

Currently, the CBDT is operating with a staff of about 47,000 against the sanction of 58,000. (PTI)