West Bengal Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta on Monday, 22 June 2026 presented the state's full budget for 2026-27, anchoring it on tax simplification and a projected ₹1,30,669.68 crore in own tax revenue — a sharp jump from the revised estimate of ₹1,11,737.13 crore for 2025-26. The budget is the first full-year financial plan under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s maiden government in West Bengal since Independence.

Professional Tax Relief

The most direct relief for working residents comes through a significant widening of professional tax exemption thresholds. For salaried individuals, the monthly exemption limit has been doubled from ₹10,000 to ₹20,000. Self-employed persons will now be exempt up to an annual income of ₹2.5 lakh, up from ₹60,000 previously.

Traders and business establishments will only attract professional tax liability once their annual gross receipts or turnover cross ₹10 lakh, compared to the earlier threshold of ₹5 lakh. Additionally, personnel of the Border Security Force (BSF) currently posted in West Bengal have been granted a complete exemption from professional tax.

Excise Reforms: Easing Homoeopathy, Tightening Liquor

Dasgupta announced amendments to the West Bengal Excise (Procedure for Grant and Functioning of Licence and Payment of Fees of Industrial Spirit) Rules, 2025. Under the existing framework, homoeopathic medicine manufacturers using industrial spirit for potentised medicines are required to obtain licences from the state excise directorate. The minister described this as an avoidable compliance burden on a sector that has contributed meaningfully to employment and economic activity — and said the provision would be scrapped through rule amendments.

On the other side of the excise ledger, the government has tightened norms for new liquor shop licences. No fresh licence will be issued if the proposed premises fall within one kilometre of an educational institution, hospital, or religious place. Within the jurisdiction of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, the minimum distance requirement is set at 500 metres.

Revenue Projections

State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) is projected to be the single largest contributor at ₹61,535 crore, followed by state excise revenue at ₹24,922 crore. Together, these two streams are expected to account for the bulk of the state's own tax receipts in 2026-27.

The overall own-tax revenue target of ₹1,30,669.68 crore represents a growth of roughly 17% over the revised estimate for the previous year — an ambitious ask that will depend heavily on improved GST compliance and excise collection efficiency.

Context and What's Next

The budget arrives as the BJP-led state government seeks to establish fiscal credibility in its first full year in office. Dasgupta had signalled after assuming charge that the administration would pursue revenue growth without fresh tax burdens on ordinary citizens — a commitment the budget attempts to operationalise. This comes amid broader questions about West Bengal's fiscal consolidation path, given the state's historically high debt levels. How effectively the new exemption thresholds translate into formalisation of the self-employed segment will be a key metric to watch in the months ahead.