No tax without authority of law
Also called: Article 265 · Topic: Parliamentary Procedure, Committees and Privileges · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 5 "Legislature"
Meaning
Article 265 says that no tax can be levied or collected except by authority of law. The executive cannot create or collect a tax on its own order. Every tax must rest on a law passed by the legislature. Along with Art. 266(3), which bars any money leaving the Consolidated Fund without an appropriation law, this gives Parliament control over public money.
Example
New tax proposals in the Union Budget take effect only through the Finance Bill, which Parliament passes as a money bill. Under the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1931, declared taxes can be collected at once, but the Finance Bill must be enacted within 75 days.
Don't confuse with
- Art. 266(3): this controls spending. Money can leave the Consolidated Fund only under an appropriation law. Art. 265 controls the raising of taxes.
Related concepts
- Consolidated Fund of India
- Public Account of India
- Contingency Fund of India
- Charged expenditure
- Voted expenditure
- Union Budget
- Interim budget