16th Finance Commission Tenure Extended to Nov 30

New Delhi, Oct 14 (PTI) The government has extended the tenure of the 16th Finance Commission by one month till November 30.

The 16th Finance Commission was constituted by the government on December 31, 2023, with former Niti Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya as its Chairman. The report by the panel was due by October 31.

The Commission will mainly make recommendations on the distribution of taxes between the Centre and states for a 5-year period starting April 1, 2026.

The Finance Ministry, in a notification dated October 10, said that the date for submission of the 16th Finance Commission report is being extended till November 30.

The Commission has four members and is assisted by Secretary Ritvik Pandey, two joint secretaries and one economic advisor.

Retired bureaucrat Annie George Mathew and economist Manoj Panda are full-time members of the Commission, while SBI Group Chief Economic Advisor Soumya Kanti Ghosh and RBI Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar are part-time members.

Besides suggesting tax devolution between the Centre and states, and revenue augmentation measures, the commission would review the present arrangements for financing disaster management initiatives with reference to the funds constituted under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

The Finance Commission is a constitutional body that gives suggestions on Centre-state financial relations.

The erstwhile 15th Finance Commission, under NK Singh, had recommended that states be given 41 per cent of the divisible tax pool of the Centre during the five-year period, i.e., 2021-22 to 2025-26, which is at the same level as was recommended by the 14th Finance Commission under YV Reddy.