New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Budget 2023-2024 on 1 February 2023. Common men and businessmen have high expectations from this budget. It is being speculated that this time the tax exempted income category will be increased from 2.5 lakhs to 5 lakhs. Whether this happens or not will be known only on the budget day, but do you know how the budget started? When was the first budget presented in India? If not then we tell you.
The first budget of India was presented in 1860. Then there was British rule in India. India’s first James Wilson had brought. He had given an effective weapon to the British to extort money from the people of India. It was criticized a lot and businessmen did not like the idea of an income tax system. However, Wilson defended it by saying that British rule provided a safe business environment to Indians, so it had to be taxed. Actually, a major reason for this was that due to the revolution of 1857, a lot of money was spent by the British government. He needed some way to make up for it, which Wilson gave him.
How much tax imposed
When the tax was imposed for the first time in 1860, the source of income was divided into four parts. Income from property, income from profession or business, income from securities, and income from salary and pension. Then there were only two slabs of tax. If a person’s income is less than ₹ 500 in a year, then a two percent tax was levied on it. While a 4% tax had to be paid on income above ₹ 500. This means that people with income less than ₹ 500 had to pay ₹ 10 tax and people with more income had to pay ₹ 20 tax. Let us tell you that Wilson also started paper currency in the country.
Who was James Wilson
James Wilson was born in 1805 in Scotland. Wilson started his career as a hat maker. He had a lot of interest in studies, he got higher education in finance and economics. After this, he became the finance council member of Lord Canning in India. It was Wilson who founded Standard Chartered Bank. He was also a member of the British Parliament. James Wilson was also the founder of today’s famous magazine The Economist. Although Wilson, who presented the budget in India, could not see this system running in the country for a long time. He died in 1860 due to an illness.
