Government to shift financial year to January-December: Reports

New Delhi, Jan 22: The government will shift the financial year to January-December, from the current April-March pattern, said a report on Zee News. The move is aimed to align it with the agriculture production cycle. An announcement regarding this is likely to be made soon, said the report.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had backed the idea of the January-December financial year last year while addressing chief ministers at the Governing Council of NITI Aayog.

Modi had said that in a country where agricultural income is exceedingly important, budgets should be prepared immediately after the receipt of agricultural incomes for the year.

The government had two years ago set up a high-level committee to study the feasibility of shifting the financial year to January 1 from the current practice of starting it from April 1.

The committee submitted its report, reasoning for the change and its effect on the different agricultural crop periods and its impact on businesses, the taxation system and procedures, statistics and data collection.

Till last 2016, the Budget was presented on the last day of February and it used to be passed by Parliament by mid-May.