Govt considering to change financial year to Jan-Dec: Arun Jaitley

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said that the government was mulling to change the timing of the financial year to January-December from April-March at present.

"The matter of changing financial year is under consideration," Jaitley reportedly said in Lok Sabha in a written reply when asked if the government was considering to “synchronise” the financial year with the calendar year.

A Times of India report quoted the minister informing that the matter had been recently examined by a government committee headed by former Chief Economic Adviser Shankar Acharya.

Though stating that the committee report had been received by the government, Jaitley refused to disclose if the budget for next fiscal would be presented towards the end of the current calendar year.

The change will require certain amendments in the tax laws, according to the TOI report.