Acharya committee formed to examine desirability & feasibility of new financial year

Union Government on 6 July 2016 constituted a committee to examine the desirability and feasibility of having ‘a new financial year’.

The four member committee will be headed by former Chief Economic Advisor Shankar Acharya. It has been asked to submit its reports by 31 December 2016.

Other members of the committee include KM Chandrasekhar, former Cabinet Secretary; PV Rajaraman, former Finance Secretary, Tamil Nadu and Dr. Rajiv Kumar, senior fellow, centre for policy research.

Course of Action of the Committee

• It will examine the merits and demerits of various dates for the commencement of the financial year including the existing date (April to March), taking into account the various relevant factors.

• It will take into account the genesis of current financial year, suitability of financial year from point of view of correct estimation of receipts and expenditure of Central and State governments.

• It will also consider the effect of the different agriculture crop periods, impact on business, taxation systems and procedures, statistics and data collection and convenience of legislatures for transacting budget work.

In case the committee decides to recommend a change in the Financial Year, it will also work out the modalities for effecting the change. At present, the Financial Year starts from 1 April.

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