Tax collection up by Rs 339 crore

A host of sops on the direct tax front has left the finance minister with only a small amount of Rs 339 crore as additional tax. As the finance minister himself remarked in his Budget speech, the proposals on the direct tax front will result in a revenue loss of Rs 2,995 crore while the proposals on the indirect tax front will result in a gain of Rs 3,294 crore.

In fact while the revenue receipts for the year 2003-04 has been estimated to grow by a meagre 7.1 per cent, the total expenditure is expected to grow at around 8.6 per cent for the fiscal. What is heartening to see is the fact that definite efforts has been highlighted by the government to check revenue deficit and keep revenue expenditure within manageable limits. The revenue deficit for the year 2003-04 has been pegged at 4.1 per cent and this in turn is expected to keep the fiscal deficit within the projected target of 5.6 per cent as compared to the revised estimate of 5.9 per cent for the year 2002-03.

For the first time, the Budget has mentioned and taken note of cash management as an effective step to check expenditure. The Budget has proposed to initiate cash management, on a pilot basis, in some major ministries.

Budgetary allocation in a time sliced manner within the available resources for the year will be undertaken and monthly or quarterly cash limits based on the actual requirement of the ministries will be prescribed. This move is in essence part of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Bill. The move will avoid mismatch between receipts and expenditure and will also avoid rush of expenditure and possible waste in the last quarter.