‘Budget is finalised after PM gives consent’

 

 

 

Explaining the Constitutional process for the Budget, Convenor of Economic Cell of BJP Maharashtra Pradesh - CA Milind Kanade said, that the then Finance Minister of the NDA Government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee changed the Budget time from 5 pm to 11 am and broke the practice of presenting the Budget on February 1, instead of the February 28 . Till 2017, the Union and Railway budgets were presented separately, but this practice was ended by Finance Minister in 2017 and Financial along with Railway budgets were presented together. The Finance Department, Niti Ayog, various Ministries all work together on the Budget. Finance Department - The Department of Financial Affairs prepares the Budget. Different Ministries, States, Union Territories, autonomous institutions, various departments in the Department of Defense etc., all submit their demands, receipts and expenditure estimates to the Budget Division, he said.

 

At the same time farmers, industrialists, various committees and economists are consulted. After all these discussions, tax-related decisions are made, including the allocation of funds and the Budget is finalised after the Prime Minister has given consent on the tax matters, Kanade said. Until now, the Finance Minister used to carry the British tradition and bring the Budget out of the red briefcase. Since, Nirmala Sitharaman became the Finance Minister, she started introducing a ‘Chopadi’ that is traditional ‘Bahi-Khata’ (accounting book). Two major parts of the Budget: In the first part, the Finance Minister states the current situation of the country, what is the GDP, how much revenue is expected to be collected by the Government this year, and announces new plans for various sectors, plans for the coming financial year. The second part: The Budget speech is about direct and indirect taxes. It includes announcements on changes in the structure of Income Tax, Corporate Tax, Capital Gains Tax, Customs and Excise Duty.

 

The GST Council decides on this, he added. Apart from this, some documents are also presented along with the Budget. 1) Annual Financial Statement as per the provisions of the Constitution of the State of India, Consolidated Parliamentary Fund of India (266), Contingency Fund of India (267), Public Account of India (266) Revenue Receipt, Capital Receipt, Accounts Classification under Article 150 of the Indian Constitution. 2) Demand for grants under Article 113, one demand for each Ministry. 3) As per Article 110 (1) (a) Finance Bill is a Money Bill stating details about changes proposed in the Budget. 4) Mandatory statement under FRBM Act, macro economics framework statement. The speech does not cover everything, but the detailed Budget that is published online contains everything. i.e. tax revenue, non-tax revenue, capital deficit etc. It also details the fiscal deficit and nominal gross GDP targets. Apart from this, it also details how much funds will be provided by the Center to the States and Union Territories for important schemes. “This will be the fourth Budget after Nirmala Sitharaman took over as Finance Minister. No women Finance Minister has presented the Budget for country four times in a row,” Kanade added.