Definition
Vote on Account
A vote on account is Parliament's approval for the government to draw money for essential expenditure for a few months until the full Budget is passed.
The full Budget process takes time, but the government needs funds to keep running from the start of the financial year. A vote on account authorises spending — usually for two months — to cover salaries and ongoing commitments until the regular appropriation bill is enacted.
It deals only with expenditure, not with new tax proposals or policy changes. A vote on account is most commonly used in an election year, often as part of an interim budget, so that a new government can present the full Budget with its own priorities.
Related terms
- Interim BudgetAn interim budget is a stop-gap budget presented before a general election to manage finances until the incoming government presents a full Budget.
- Finance BillThe Finance Bill is the legislation introduced with the Budget that gives legal effect to the government's tax proposals for the coming year.
- Appropriation BillThe Appropriation Bill is the law that authorises the government to withdraw money from the Consolidated Fund of India to meet the expenditure approved in the Budget.
Plain-English explainer from The Dispatch Investors Encyclopedia. General information, not financial advice.