Fiscal year

A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is the period used by governments for accounting and budget purposes, which vary between countries. It is also used for financial reporting by business and other organizations. Laws in many jurisdictions require company financial reports to be prepared and published on a generally annual basis, but generally do not require that the reporting period be calendar year, 1 January to 31 December. Taxation laws generally require accounting records to be maintained and taxes calculated on an annual basis, which usually corresponds to the fiscal year used for government purposes. The calculation of tax on an annual basis is especially relevant for direct taxation, such as income tax. Many annual government fees—such as Council rates, licence fees, etc.—are also levied on a fiscal year basis, while others are charged on an anniversary basis.

The "fiscal year end" (FYE) is the date that marks the end of the fiscal year. Some companies—such as Cisco Systems[1]—end their fiscal year on the same day of the week each year, e.g. the day that is closest to a particular date (for example, the Friday closest to 31 December). Under such a system, some fiscal years will have 52 weeks and others 53 weeks.

The calendar year is used as the fiscal year by about 65% of publicly traded companies in the United States and for a majority of large corporations in the UK[2] and elsewhere, with notable exceptions being in Australia, New Zealand and Japan.[3]

Many universities have a fiscal year which ends during the summer, both to align the fiscal year with the academic year (and, in some cases involving public universities, with the state government's fiscal year), and because the school is normally less busy during the summer months. In the northern hemisphere this is July to the next June. In the southern hemisphere this is calendar year, January to December. Some media/communication-based organizations use a broadcast calendar as the basis for their fiscal year.

The fiscal year is usually denoted by the year in which it ends, so United States federal government spending incurred on 14 November 2017 would belong to fiscal year 2018, operating on a fiscal calendar of October–September.[4]

Chart of various fiscal years

Fiscal year by country
Country Purpose (Jul) (Aug) (Sep) (Oct) (Nov) (Dec) Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec (Jan) (Feb) (Mar)
Australia
Austria
Brazil
Canada govt
corp. and pers.
China
Costa Rica
Egypt
Germany
Greece
Hong Kong
India
Iran 21 March
Israel
Japan govt
corp. and pers.
Nepal 17 July
Netherlands
New Zealand govt
corp. and pers.
Pakistan
Portugal
Republic of Ireland
Russia
Singapore govt
pers
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sweden pers.
corp.
Switzerland pers.
Taiwan
Thailand
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom pers. 6 April
corp. and govt
United States govt
Country Purpose (Jul) (Aug) (Sep) (Oct) (Nov) (Dec) Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec (Jan) (Feb) (Mar)

Tax year

The fiscal year for individuals and entities to report and pay income taxes is often known as the taxpayer's tax year or taxable year. Taxpayers in many jurisdictions may choose their tax year.[5] In federal countries (e.g., United States, Canada, Switzerland), state/provincial/cantonal tax years must be the same as the federal year. Nearly all jurisdictions require that the tax year be 12 months or 52/53 weeks.[6] However, short years are permitted as the first year or when changing tax years.[7]

Most countries require all individuals to pay income tax based on the calendar year. Significant exceptions include:

Many jurisdictions require that the tax year conform to the taxpayer's fiscal year for financial reporting. The United States is a notable exception: taxpayers may choose any tax year, but must keep books and records for such year.[6]

Operation in various countries/region

In some jurisdictions, particularly those that permit tax consolidation, companies that are part of a group of businesses must use nearly the same fiscal year (differences of up to three months are permitted in some jurisdictions, such as the U.S. and Japan), with consolidating entries to adjust for transactions between units with different fiscal years, so the same resources will not be counted more than once or not at all.

Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, the fiscal year was recently changed from 1 Hamal – 29 Hoot (21 March – 20 March) to 1 Jadi – 30 Qaus (21 December – 20 December). The fiscal year runs with the Afghan calendar, thus resulting in difference of the Gregorian dates once in a four-year span.

Australia

In Australia, a fiscal year is commonly called a "financial year" (FY) and starts on 1 July and ends on the next 30 June. Financial years are designated by the calendar year of the second half of the period. For example, financial year 2017 is the 12-month period ending on 30 June 2017 and can be referred to as FY2016/17. It is used for official purposes, by individual taxpayers and by the overwhelming majority of business enterprises.[9] Business enterprises may opt to use a financial year that ends at the end of a week (e.g., 52 or 53 weeks in length, and therefore is not exactly one calendar year in length), or opt for its financial year to end on a date that matches the reporting cycle of its foreign parent. All entities within the one group must use the same financial year.

For government accounting and budget purposes, pre-Federation colonies changed the financial year from the calendar year to a year ending 30 June on the following dates: Victoria changed in 1870, South Australia in 1874, Queensland in 1875, Western Australia in 1892, New South Wales in 1895 and Tasmania in 1904. The Commonwealth adopted the near-ubiquitous financial year standard since its inception in 1901.[10] The reason given for the change was for convenience, as Parliament typically sits during May and June, while it was difficult for it to meet in November and December to pass a budget.[10]

Austria

In Austria the fiscal year is the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December.

Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, the fiscal year is 1 July to the next 30 June.

Belarus

In Belarus, the fiscal year is the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December. [11]

Brazil

In Brazil, the fiscal year is the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December.

Bulgaria

In Bulgaria, the fiscal year is the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December, both for personal income tax[12] and for corporate taxes.[13]

Canada

In Canada,[14] the government's financial year is 1 April to 31 March.
(Q1 1 April - 30 June, Q2 1 July - 30 Sept, Q3 1 Oct - 31 Dec and Q4 1 Jan - 31 Mar)

For individual taxpayers, the fiscal year is the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December.

China

In China, the fiscal year for all entities is the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December, and applies to the tax year, statutory year, and planning year.

Colombia

In Colombia, the fiscal year is the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December.

Costa Rica

In Costa Rica, the fiscal year is 1 October to 30 September.

Egypt

In the Arab Republic of Egypt, the fiscal year is 1 July to 30 June.

France

In France, the fiscal year is the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December, and has been since at least 1911.[15]

Greece

In Greece, the fiscal year is the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December.

Hong Kong

In Hong Kong,[16] the government's financial year runs from 1 April to 31 March.

India

In India, the government's financial year runs from 1 April to 30 March. It is abbreviated as FY18.[17][18]

Companies following the Indian Depositary Receipt (IDR) are given freedom to choose their financial year. For example, Standard Chartered's IDR follows the UK calendar despite being listed in India. Companies following Indian fiscal year get to know their economical health on 31 March of every Indian financial or fiscal year.

The current fiscal year was adopted by the colonial British government in 1867 to align India's financial year with that of the British Empire.[19][20] Prior to 1867, India followed a fiscal year that ran from 1 May to 30 April.[21]

In 1984, the LK Jha committee recommended adopting a fiscal year that ran from 1 January to 31 December. However, this proposal was not adopted by the government fearing possible issues during the transition period.[21] A panel set up by the NITI Aayog in July 2016, recommended starting the next fiscal year from 1 January to 31 December after the end of the current five-year plan.[22]

On 4 May 2017, Madhya Pradesh announced that it would move to a January-December financial year, becoming the first Indian state to do so.[23]

Iran

In Iran, the fiscal year usually starts on 21 March (1st of Farvardin) and concludes on next year's 20 March (29th of Esfand) in Solar Hijri calendar [24]

Ireland

Until 2001, the fiscal year in Ireland was the year ending 5 April, as in the United Kingdom. From 2002, to coincide with the introduction of the euro, it was changed to the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December. The 2001 tax year was nine months, from April to December.[25]

Israel

In Israel, the fiscal year is the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December.[26]

Italy

In Italy, the fiscal year is the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December. It was changed in 1965, before which it was 1 July to 30 June.

Japan

In Japan,[27] the government's financial year is from 1 April to 31 March. The fiscal year is represented by the calendar year in which the period begins, followed by the word nendo (年度); for example the fiscal year from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018 is called 2017–nendo.

Japan's income tax year is 1 January to 31 December, but corporate tax is charged according to the corporation's own annual period.

Macau

In Macau, the government's financial year is 1 January to 31 December.

Mexico

In Mexico, the fiscal year is the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December.

Myanmar/Burma

In Myanmar,[28] the fiscal year is 1 April to 31 March.

Nepal

In Nepal, the fiscal year is 1 Shrawan (4th month of Bikram calendar) to 31 Ashad (3rd month of Bikram calendar). Shrawan 1 roughly falls in mid-July.[29]

New Zealand

In New Zealand, the government's fiscal[30] and financial reporting[31] year is 1 July to the next 30 June[32] and applies also to the budget. The company and personal financial year[33] is 1 April to 31 March and applies to company and personal income tax.

Pakistan

The Pakistani government's fiscal year is 1 July of the previous calendar year and concludes on 30 June. Private companies are free to observe their own accounting year, which may not be the same as government's fiscal year.[34]

Portugal

In Portugal, the fiscal year is the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December.

Qatar

In Qatar, the fiscal year is from 1 April to 31 March.

Russia

In Russia, the fiscal year is the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December.[15]

Singapore

The fiscal year for the calculation of personal income taxes is 1 January to 31 December.

The fiscal year for the Government of Singapore and many government-linked corporations is 1 April to 31 March.

Corporations and organisations are permitted to select any date as the end of each fiscal year, as long as this date remains constant.

South Africa

In South Africa, the fiscal year for the Government of South Africa is 1 April to 31 March.

The year of assessment for individuals covers twelve months, 1 March to the final day of February the following year. The Act also provides for certain classes of taxpayers to have a year of assessment ending on a day other than the last day of February. Companies are permitted to have a tax year ending on a date that coincides with their financial year. Many older companies still use a tax year that runs from 1 July to 30 June, inherited from the British system. A common practice for newer companies is to run their tax year from 1 March to the final day of February following, to synchronize with the tax year for individuals.

South Korea

In South Korea, the fiscal year is the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December.

Spain

In Spain, the fiscal year is the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December.[35]

Sweden

In Sweden, the fiscal year for individuals is the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December.[36]

The fiscal year for an organisation is typically one of the following:

However, all calendar months are allowed. If an organisation wishes to change into a non-calendar year, permission from the Tax Authority is required.[37][38]

Taiwan

In Taiwan, the fiscal year is the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December. However, an enterprise may elect to adopt a special fiscal year at the time it is established and can request approval from the tax authorities to change its fiscal year.[39]

Thailand

In Thailand, the government's fiscal year (FY) is 1 October to 30 September of the following year.[40] For individual taxpayers it is the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December.

Ukraine

In Ukraine, the fiscal year is the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December.[41]

United Arab Emirates

In the United Arab Emirates, the fiscal year is the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom,[42] the financial year runs from 1 April to 31 March for the purposes of government financial statements.[43] For personal tax purposes the fiscal year starts on 6 April and ends on 5 April of the next calendar year.[44]

Although United Kingdom corporation tax is charged by reference to the government's financial year, companies can adopt any year as their accounting year: if there is a change in tax rate, the taxable profit is apportioned to financial years on a time basis.

A number of major corporations that were once government-owned, such as BT Group and the National Grid, continue to use the government's financial year, which ends on the last day of March, as they have found no reason to change since privatisation.

The 5 April year end for personal tax and benefits reflects the old ecclesiastical calendar, with New Year falling on 25 March (Lady Day), the difference being accounted for by the eleven days "missed out" when Great Britain converted from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar in 1752 (the British tax authorities, and landlords were unwilling to lose 11 days of tax and rent revenue, so under provision 6 (Times of Payment of Rents, Annuities, &c.) of the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750, the 1752–3 tax year was extended by 11 days). From 1753 until 1799, the tax year in Great Britain began on 5 April, which was the "old style" new year of 25 March. A 12th skipped Gregorian leap day in 1800 changed its start to 6 April. It was not changed when a 13th Julian leap day was skipped in 1900, so the start of the personal tax year in the United Kingdom is still 6 April.[45][46][47]

United States

Federal government

The United States federal government's fiscal year is the 12-month period ending on 30 September of that year, having begun on 1 October of the previous calendar year. In particular, the identification of a fiscal year is the calendar year in which it ends; thus, the current fiscal year is 2017, often written as "FY2017" or "FY17", which began on 1 October 2016 and which will end on 30 September 2017.

Prior to 1976, the fiscal year began on 1 July and ended on 30 June. The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 made the change to allow Congress more time to arrive at a budget each year, and provided for what is known as the "transitional quarter" from 1 July 1976 to 30 September 1976. An earlier shift in the federal government's fiscal year was made in 1843, shifting the fiscal year from a calendar year to one starting on 1 July.[48]

For example, the United States government fiscal year for 2017 is:

State governments

State governments set their own fiscal year. It may or may not align with the federal calendar. For example, in the state of California, the fiscal year runs from 1 July to 30 June each year.[49]

Businesses and organizations

The tax year for a business is governed by the fiscal year it chooses. A business may choose any consistent fiscal year that it wants; however, for seasonal businesses such as farming and retail, a good account practice is to end the fiscal year shortly after the highest revenue time of year. Consequently, most large agriculture companies end their fiscal years after the harvest season, and most retailers end their fiscal years shortly after the Christmas shopping season.

See also

References

  1. ↑ MATT RICHTEL (12 May 2004). "Cisco Profit For Quarter Slightly Beats Estimates". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  2. ↑ Thomson ONE Banker, Thomson Reuters Datastream and individual companies (31 March 2011). "FT UK 500 2011" (PDF). Financial Times. The Financial Times Ltd. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  3. ↑ Australian and New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in Japan (20 April 2011). "Definitions" (PDF). Australian and New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in Japan Constitution. Australian and New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in Japan. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  4. ↑ "Definition of fiscal year investopedia.com".
  5. ↑ See, e.g., U.S. IRS Publication 538.
  6. 1 2 "26 U.S. Code § 441 - Period for computation of taxable income". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  7. ↑ 26 USC 443.
  8. ↑ See instructions to IRS Form 1128 and 26 USC 441–444.
  9. ↑ ASIC. "Changing a financial year". Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  10. 1 2 Robert H. Parker (2013). Accounting in Australia (RLE Accounting): Historical Essays. p. 63. ISBN 9781317963929.
  11. ↑ "Budgetary code" (PDF). p. 9, article 5. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  12. ↑ "Ar. 15 of the Act on Taxes on the Income of Physical Persons".
  13. ↑ "Ar. 21, Para. 1 of the Act on Corporate Income Taxation".
  14. ↑ Department of Justice Canada (1985). "Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act". Department of Justice Canada (in English and French). Department of Justice Canada. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  15. 1 2 "British and Foreign Naval Power.". Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  16. ↑ "The World Factbook". Archived from the original on 14 May 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  17. ↑ "The World Factbook". Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  18. ↑ "Why financial year & calendar year differ in India?". Reuters. 10 November 2008.
  19. ↑ "Is the country getting a new fiscal year cycle?". The Hindu Business Line. 6 July 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  20. ↑ "Change fiscal year to Jan-Dec: Govt panel suggests break from 150-yr tradition". Hindustan Times. 28 December 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  21. 1 2 "India to bid good bye to its ‘old’ financial year in 2018?". The Financial Express. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  22. ↑ "Should financial year sync with calendar year? Govt to discuss". 2016-06-28. Retrieved 2016-08-04.
  23. ↑ Sood, Jyotika (2 May 2017). "Madhya Pradesh decides to change to January-December fiscal year". Mint. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  24. ↑ "Iran announces budget for coming fiscal year". Yahoo news. 2 March 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  25. ↑ Suiter, Jane (21 July 2000). "McCreevy changing the tax year from April to January". Irish Times. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  26. ↑ "The World Factbook". Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  27. ↑ "The World Factbook". Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  28. ↑ "The World Factbook". Archived from the original on 4 November 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  29. ↑ RSS. "Lawmakers stress on changing Fiscal Year". ekantipur. Kantipur Publications. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  30. ↑ "Annual Report". Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  31. ↑ "New Zealand International Financial Reporting Standards (NZIFRS)". Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  32. ↑ "Year End Financial Statements". Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  33. ↑ "Important dates". Inland Revenue. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  34. ↑ International Monetary Fund (7 February 2012). Pakistan: Staff Report for the 2011 Article IV Consultation and Proposal for Post-Program Monitoring. International Monetary Fund. p. 173. ISBN 978-1-4639-5152-8.
  35. ↑ "Spain". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  36. ↑ "Sweden". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  37. ↑ "Skatteverket". Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  38. ↑ "Bolagsverket". Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  39. ↑ "Investing in Taiwan". Taiwan Investment Guide. 2008.
  40. ↑ "Economy; Thailand; Fiscal Year". The World Factbook: Thailand. US Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 17 Feb 2015.
  41. ↑ "Article 3 of Budgetary code of Ukraine". Budgetary code of Ukraine. Retrieved 19 Jul 2017.
  42. ↑ "The World Factbook". Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  43. ↑ HM Treasury Accounts Direction 2008–09
  44. ↑ Business tax: Self-employment, HM Revenue & Customs, retrieved 17 May 2017
  45. ↑ "Key Dates for UK Tax Year 2015/2016". www.taxback.com. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  46. ↑ Joseph, Pat (2008). Tax Answers at A Glance 08 09 (illustrated ed.). Lawpack Publishing Ltd. p. 5. ISBN 1-905261-81-0.
  47. ↑ Steel, Duncan (2000). Marking time: the epic quest to invent the perfect calendar (illustrated ed.). John Wiley and Sons. p. 5. ISBN 0-471-29827-1.
  48. ↑ The Statutes at Large and Treaties of the United States of America, Volume 5. Boston: Charles C. Little & James Brown. 1856. pp. 536–537.
  49. ↑ "California Budget - California Department of Finance". www.dof.ca.gov. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
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