Indian FM Likely To Present 1st Post-GST Budget

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is likely to present India’s first budget after the July rollout of the goods and services tax (GST) regime on February 1 next year. The budget session of parliament may begin on January 30. The annual Economic Survey, detailing the state of the economy, is likely to be tabled on January 31, followed by the budget the next day.

Jaitley had for the first time presented the annual accounts on February 1 this year, ending the British-era customary of presenting the budget at the end of February.

The winter session, which begins on December 15, will end on January 5. There would be less than a month’s gap between the two sessions of parliament, a news agency quoted a senior Indian government official as saying.

With excise duty and service tax being subsumed in GST, the classifications in the next budget may change. As the GST rates are decided by a GST Council, the budget may not have any tax proposals concerning excise and service tax levies, the official said.

While a new classification for revenues to be accrued from GST will be included in the budget for the next fiscal, for the current year two sets of accounting may be presented — one for actual accruals during April-June for excise, customs and service tax, and the other for July-March period for GST and customs duty, the report added.

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