In a pivotal moment for India’s fiscal history, Sir James Wilson, Britain’s first Finance Member in India, presented the country’s first ever Union Budget on April 7, 1860 . Tasked by Queen Victoria to restore financial order following the 1857 uprising, Wilson restructured India’s taxation framework and introduced the concept of income tax, a system that continues to serve as a major revenue source in modern India.

A strategic decision within the budget ensured that individuals with an annual income below ₹200 were exempt from the new tax, reflecting an early nod toward equitable taxation . Beyond income tax, Wilson established a structured audit and appropriation mechanism modeled after the British system, thereby institutionalizing government financial accountability.

Although Wilson sadly passed away later that year, succumbing to dysentery in August 1860, his reforms laid the financial and administrative foundation for India’s modern tax and budgetary institutions.