Financial year may change in near future

Having taken a number of financial and budgetary reforms and having merged the railways budget with the main budget this year, the Narendra Modi Government is now seriously toying with the idea of changing the traditional AprilMarch financial year, that is in vogue since many decades.

The government has already advanced the its budget presentation date in the Lok Sabha to February.

It was done to help smoothen the financial year beginning from day one of the financial year that begins on 1st April.

Fund allotment to different ministries and schemes and tax adjustments had been made easy by shifting the budget dates. The exercise to change the FY has been going on in the finance ministry since the formation of the Shankar Acharya committee a few months ago. In many countries the calendar year and financial year are the same.

Finance Ministry on Fridaytoday gave broad hints of adopting the JanuaryDecember calendar year as the financial year.

Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha, Jaitley said that the matter of changing the financial year was under consideration of the government.

The former chief economic Adviser to Government of India, Shankar Acharya had submitted his report to the FM in which he has reportedly favoured switching over to the new calendar.

The finance ministry had recently received the Acharya panel report, Jaitely informed the Lok Sabha.