The budget is not merely a financial document of the government that presents roadmap to be followed by ministries and departments while exercising their rights to pay out expenses from allocated funds for development works.
The Budget also comprises of various crucial documents including analysis of past schemes besides providing a blueprint of future projects of the government. Here, India TV gets you a detailed list of supporting documents that are part of the Budget.
Given below is the description of key Budget documents:
Annual Financial Statement:
Under the Article 112 of the Constitution, the government requires to present a statement of estimated receipts and expenditure in respect of every financial year in both the Houses of Parliament. This document is called the Annual Financial Statement. The receipts and disbursements are shown under three parts in which government accounts are kept. It also distinguishes the expenditure on revenue account from the expenditure on other accounts.
Demand for Grants:
Demand for Grants is a kind of form that is submitted in pursuance of Article 113 of the Constitution. The form carries estimates of expenditure from the Consolidated Fund, included in the Annual Financial Statement. It also requires a vote by the Lok Sabha. Generally, one Demand for Grant is presented in respect of each ministry or department. However, more than one Demand may be presented for a Ministry or Department depending on the nature of expenditure.
Appropriation Bill:
Under Article 114(3) of the Constitution, no amount can be withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund without the enactment of such a law by the Parliament. Thus, the passage of the Bill in the Lok Sabha is necessary to empower the government to withdraw funds from the Consolidated Fund for meeting its expenses. In most democracies, approval of the legislature is mandatory for the government to spend money.
Finance Bill:
In fulfilment of the requirement of Article 110 (1)(a) of the Constitution, a Finance Bill is presented at the time of presentation of the Annual Financial Statement. It details the imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of taxes proposed in the Budget.
Memorandum Explaining the Provisions in the Finance Bill:
This document deals with information to facilitate understanding of the taxation proposals in the Finance Bill. The provisions and their implications are also explained in this.
Expenditure Budget Volume -1:
The document carries details related to the revenue and capital disbursements of various Ministries and Departments. Besides, it gives the estimates with respect to each under ‘Plan’ and ‘Non-Plan’. It also gives an analysis of various types of expenditure and broad reasons for the variations in estimates.
Expenditure Budget Volume -2:
In this document, the estimates made for a welfare scheme or programme are brought together and shown on a net basis Major Head-wise at one place. To understand the objectives, the documents underlines the expenditure proposed for various schemes. Suitable explanatory notes are also included in this paper.
Brief reasons for variations between the Budget Estimates and Revised Estimates for the current year and requirements for the ensuing Budget year are also given.
Receipts Budget:
The document provides analysis of estimates of receipts included in the Annual Financial Statement. Besides, it gives details of tax and non-tax revenue receipts and capital receipts and explains the estimates. It also provides the arrears of tax revenues and non-tax revenues.
