New Delhi: The government is looking to advance the budget presentation by a month to January from next year, a move that will allow individuals and companies more time to firm up savings and tax payout plans.The budget is usually presented on the last working day of February, a month before the new financial year begins on April 1.
“No final decision has been taken so far, but the ministry is examining the idea to advance the date of presenting the budget,’ said a finance ministry official who did not wish to be named.
The move will need bipartisan political support as it will involve advancing the Parliament’s budget session at least by a month.
The Congress was not in support of the plan. “What is the logic behind changing a time-tested method? If the budget is presented in January, the finances of the country will not be clear by then,” said Veerappa Moily, the Congress’s Lok Sabha MP and a former law and corporate affairs minister.
