Government budget: essence and structure

Government budget is an annual statement, showing item wise estimates of receipts and expenditure during fiscal year i.e. financial year. The receipts and expenditure, shown in the budget, are not the actual figure, but the estimated values for the coming fiscal year.

1. Revenue Budget

This financial statement includes the revenue receipts of the government i.e. revenue collected by way of taxes & other receipts. It also contains the items of expenditure met from such revenue.

(a) Revenue Receipts: These are the incomes which are received by the government from all sources in its ordinary course of governance. These receipts do not create a liability or lead to a reduction in assets.

Revenue receipts are further classified as tax revenue and non-tax revenue.

Tax Revenue:-

Tax revenue consists of the income received from different taxes and other duties levied by the government. It is a major source of public revenue. Every citizen, by law is bound to pay them and non-payment is punishable.

Taxes are of two types: Direct Taxes and Indirect Taxes.

Direct taxes are those taxes which have to be paid by the person on whom they are levied. Its burden can not be shifted to some one else. E.g. Income tax, property tax, corporation tax, estate duty, etc. are direct taxes. There is no direct benefit to the tax payer.

Indirect taxes are those taxes which are levied on commodities and services and affect the income of a person through their consumption expenditure. Here the burden can be shifted to some other person. E.g. Custom duties, sales tax, services tax, excise duties, etc. are indirect taxes.

Non-Tax Revenue:-

Apart from taxes, governments also receive revenue from other non-tax sources.

The non-tax sources of public revenue are as follows:-

1. Fees: The government provides variety of services for which fees have to be paid. E.g. fees paid for registration of property, births, deaths, etc.

2. Fines and penalties: Fines and penalties are imposed by the government for not following (violating) the rules and regulations.

3. Profits from public sector enterprises: Many enterprises are owned and managed by the government. The profits receives from them is an important source of non-tax revenue. For example in India, the Indian Railways, Oil and Natural Gas Commission, Air India, Indian Airlines, etc. are owned by the Government of India. The profit generated by them is a source of revenue to the government.

4. Gifts and grants: Gifts and grants are received by the government when there are natural calamities like earthquake, floods, famines, etc. Citizens of the country, foreign governments and international organisations like the UNICEF, UNESCO, etc. donate during times of natural calamities.

5. Special assessment duty: It is a type of levy imposed by the government on the people for getting some special benefit. For example, in a particular locality, if roads are improved, property prices will rise. The Property owners in that locality will benefit due to the appreciation in the value of property. Therefore the government imposes a levy on them which is known as special assessment duties.

What is Revenue Expenditure?

Revenue expenditure is the expenditure incurred for the routine, usual and normal day to day running of government departments and provision of various services to citizens. It includes both development and non-development expenditure of the Central government. Usually expenditures that do not result in the creations of assets are considered revenue expenditure.

Capital Budget

This part of the budget includes receipts & expenditure on capital account projected for the next financial year. Capital budget consists of capital receipts & Capital expenditure.

Capital Receipts

Receipts which create a liability or result in a reduction in assets are called capital receipts. They are obtained by the government by raising funds through borrowings, recovery of loans and disposing of assets.

What is Capital Expenditure?:-

Any projected expenditure which is incurred for creating asset with a long life is capital expenditure. Thus, expenditure on land, machines, equipment, irrigation projects, oil exploration and expenditure by way of investment in long term physical or financial assets are capital expenditure.