With the advent of GST, there are plenty of changes in the way the Budget is slated to be presented. No major announcements regarding indirect taxes are expected and direct taxes will be the focus.

Union Budget has always been a subject of great interest in India. The fervour associated with the event, some age-old traditions that have been followed year after year, and the political fallout of the Budget itself combine to make it one of the most-watched events in the country.

However, the upcoming Budget is going to be unique in more ways than one. With this being the last full Budget presented by the incumbent BJP government before the 2019 general elections, there is an increased amount of scrutiny on it, both from the media and the public.

Listed below are some ways in which the 2018 Budget will be nothing like the ones that came before it.

Presentation to happen less than a month after Winter Session
This will be the first instance of the Budget being presented less than a month after the conclusion of the Winter Session, which is expected to last well into January.

This has been a matter of much debate and discussion, with experts pointing out that the Winter Session had seeped into January in 1976, when Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister.

However, back then the Budget was presented on the last day of February, unlike February 1 this year, and the gap between the two sessions of Parliament was still longer than a month.

No tax proposals on excise, service tax
Since the 2018 Budget will be the first one after the Goods and Services Tax regime was rolled out, it is fairly certain that there will be no proposals pertaining to excise duty or service tax levies.

This is because GST rates are decided by the GST Council, which is headed by the Finance Minister himself and has representatives from all states.

Most experts believe that the only indirect tax that could see changes is Customs duty. Finance Minister Jaitley is expected to focus more on the direct taxes side of the Budget.

No distinction between Plan and non-Plan expenditure

Breaking the decades-old practice of providing different figures for plan and non-plan expenditure, the Centre has decided to classify general expenditure into ’revenue’ and ’capital’ from this year onwards.

When asked about the government’s rationale behind the move, finance ministry officials said that it did not make sense to have heads named Plan and non-Plan expenditure when the Planning Commission had been abolished.

 27 Dec 2017, 06:13 AM