Union Budget 2021: Decoding this year's budget, know what all to expect

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be presenting the Union Budget 2021 on February 1. This is going to be India's first ever paperless Union Budget, after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched the Budget mobile app a few days ago.

Unlike the past, the voluminous Budget documents will not be printed this year, following the COVID-19 protocol and will instead be distributed electronically to the Members of Parliament (MPs). The economy is still reeling from the effects of COVID-19. The budget comes against the backdrop of recession with growth in two consecutive quarters in the red. 

Sources claim that the upcoming Budget may have sops announced earlier under the Atmanirbhar Bharat package to help people in their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. There will be many things different in this year's Budget compared to previous years. Here are a few of them.

Paperless Budget

Every year the Union Budget is printed in the finance ministry's in-house press and involves 100 employees who stay together for a fortnight till the papers are printed, sealed and delivered. However, due to rising cases of COVID-19 , the government will not print hard copies, and instead, send soft copies.

In two parts

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget on February 1. The first session of Budget in the Parliament will start in January and go on till February 15. The second session will take place between March 8 and April 8.

No bahi khata, no trucks

This time around, since the Budget has gone paperless, there will be no trucks loaded with Budget papers, which is a familiar sight at Parliament on Budget Day. Furthermore, there will be no need for a bahi khata to carry the budget papers unlike other years. Last year, Nirmala Sitharaman had dropped the leather briefcase in favour of a traditional bahi khata.

Different seating arrangements 

Since the COVID-19 protocol is still in place, it is likely that there will be different safety measuresin place, including strict physical distancing norms. For the first time ever, Members of Parliament might be seated in three different places - the Rajya Sabha chamber, the Lok Sabha chamber, and the central hall for President Ram Nath Kovind's address at the beginning of the session.

Here we have also decoded the most-used terms that Finance Minister might use during the presentation of Budget 2021.

Fiscal Deficit

The condition when the government's total income (total taxes and non-debt capital receipts) exceeds its revenue in a year. It is calculated both in absolute terms and as a percentage of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Primary Deficit

The difference between the current year’s fiscal deficit and interest payment on previous borrowings is known as Primary Deficit. Primary deficit = Gross fiscal deficit - Interest liability

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced in a specific time period. GDP is the sum of the market values, or prices, of all final goods and services produced in an economy during a period of time.

Budget Estimates

The funds allocated for various jobs and activities and ministries for the coming financial year are called Budget estimates.

Cess

Commonly it is referred to as a tax on tax. A form of tax charged/levied over and above the base tax liability of a taxpayer is termed as Cess.

Corporate Tax

Direct tax imposed by a jurisdiction on the income or capital of corporations or analogous legal entities is Corporate Tax.

Repo Rate

The rate at which Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lends money to banks is called Repo Rate.

Minimum Alternative Tax (MAT)

When a company has to pay a minimum amount of tax to the government, even if it is under zero tax limits, then that amount is called MAT.