Budget 2024: A quick guide on how to read the Budget document
The Union Budget contains details about the estimated receipts and the expenditure of the government for a particular fiscal year. Here is a quick guide on how to read and easily understand the Budget document
On February 1, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will rise up in the Lok Sabha to present the Union Budget 2024-25. It will be an interim Budget as the elections for the Lok Sabha are due early next year. The full Budget for FY25 will be presented after the formation of the new government following the general elections.
The Union Budget contains details about the estimated receipts and the expenditure of the government for a particular fiscal year. The Budget is allotted for the upcoming fiscal year, which runs from 1st April to 31st March of the next year. Here is a quick guide on how to read and easily understand the Budget document. These Budget documents are uploaded onto www.indiabudget.gov.in within hours of the finance minister’s speech in Lok Sabha.
Budget Speech
The Budget starts with the speech of the Union Finance Minister. Though the speech is a minor part, but it is the most essential element of the Budget document. It can be divided into two parts: The first part (Part A) of the Budget tells about the expectations and reform strategy for the coming financial year and the second part (Part B) carries tax announcements—both direct and indirect.
Part-A
Part-A of the Finance Minister’s Budget Speech announces planned schemes for different sectors of the economy like health, education, services, banking and other financial services, rural and urban sectors, capital markets, SMEs, MSMEs, large businesses, and infrastructure development among other others. This section also contains the different welfare schemes planned for the targeted groups like women, farmers, and students besides the budget targets like fiscal deficit, divestment, and government borrowings etc.
Part-B
Part B of the Budget document carries direct and indirect tax announcements (excluding GST, which does not come under the budget purview). This section of the budget speech also contains announcements regarding any changes in income tax slabs, corporate tax, capital gains tax, customs and excise duties in the coming fiscal.
Part B of the Budget speech also contains separate statements and annexures, providing information relating to the breakdown of the tax announcements, general expenditure, non-planned expenditure, and plan outlay. The statements relating to gender budgeting and budget provisions for various welfare schemes, programmes and ministries, position on guarantees given by the Central Government and outstanding as at the end of March last are also mentioned in this document.
Budget At A Glance
This section of the Budget document shows in brief, receipts and disbursements along with broad details of tax, non-tax revenues and other receipts and plan and non-plan expenditure, including allocation of plan outlays by sectors as well as by the ministries, departments and details of resources transferred by the Central Government to states and Union territories. This document also shows the revenue deficit, the gross primary deficit and the gross fiscal deficit of the Central Government.
This document not only contains the details of the planned subsidies on fuel, fertilizer, and food but also the GDP growth target for the coming fiscal.
Revenue And Expenditure
Revenue and expenditure documents contain the details of the various sources of revenue and heads of expenditure.
Revenue Document: This gives the details of the revenue generation. How much revenue is expected from income tax, corporate tax, GST, excise duty etc, and also from non-tax sources like disinvestment, privatization, telecom and aviation etc.
Expenditure Document: This document gives a ministry-wise expenditure breakdown of the budget. In this section, one can get the details of how much the government is planning to spend on anything including defence, education, healthcare, MGNREGA, administrative spending, specific infrastructure projects, PM Kishan etc.
Finance Bill
The Finance Bill is presented in fulfilment of the requirement of Article 110(1)(a) of the Constitution, detailing the imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of taxes proposed in the Budget. It is accompanied by a Memorandum explaining the provisions included in it. It is the Finance Bill which gives legal backing to the Budget.
Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act
The Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act contains the Macro-economic Framework Statement, Macro-economic Framework Statement, and the Macro-economic Framework Statement. These statements reflect the growth prospects of the economy, the strategic priorities of Government in the fiscal area for the ensuing financial year relating to taxation, expenditure, lending and investments, administered pricing, borrowing and guarantees, and sets out three-year rolling targets for four specific fiscal indicators concerning GDP at market prices: (i) Revenue Deficit, (ii) Fiscal Deficit, (iii) Tax to GDP Ratio and (iv) Total out-standing Debt at the end of the year.
Catch all the Budget News , Business News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
MoreLess
First Published:6 Dec 2023, 06:25 AM IST
- Top Gainers
- Top Losers
- 52 Week High