Union Budget 2024: What is a revenue budget?

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her sixth Union Budget, which is also the interim budget, on February 1. The full Budget for the fiscal year 2024-25 will be introduced after the formation of the new government following the general elections.

The revenue budget is the sum of the government’s revenue receipts and expenditures. Revenue receipts are divided into two categories: tax and non-tax revenue.

Tax revenue includes direct tax such as income tax and indirect tax such as GST, cess and import/export duties.

Non-tax revenue includes the interest earned on the government’s investments, loans and income from other services it renders.

Revenue expenditure includes the government’s expenses in running its ministries and departments and the services and programmes it offers to citizens such as social security, pension, medical services via ESI and so forth. It also includes the interest it pays on loans it borrows and subsidies it provides.

The total bill of the revenue receipts and expenditures is tabled during the presentation of the annual Union Budget. Generally, the government’s expenditure exceeds its income, creating a revenue deficit or fiscal deficit.