fiscal year
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Fiscal year (FY)
Fiscal Year
2. In the United Kingdom, the tax year.
fiscal year (FY)
fiscal year
the government's accounting year which, in the UK, runs from 6 April to 5 April of the following year, and in the USA from 1 July to 30 June. The fiscal year is the basic period used by the government in assessing personal INCOME TAX and any income earned during the fiscal year is assessable to taxation at the income tax rates applicable for that fiscal year. Compare FINANCIAL YEAR.In the past the authorities have occasionally set ‘targets’ for fiscal policy, most notably ‘caps'on the size of the PUBLIC SECTOR BORROWING REQUIREMENT (PSBR). Recently, the government has accepted that fiscal stability is an important element in the fight against inflation. In 1997, the government set an inflation ‘target'of an increase in the RETAIL PRICE INDEX (RPIX) of no more than 21/2 % per annum and ceded powers to a newly-established MONETARY POLICY COMMITTEE to set official interest rates. In doing this the government explicitly recognised that a low inflation economy was essential in order to achieve another of its priorities – low UNEMPLOYMENT. To this end, fiscal ‘prudence’, specifically a current budget deficit (PSBR) within the European Union's MAASTRICHT TREATY limits of no more than 3% of GDP (and an outstanding total debt limit of 60% of GDP) was endorsed as a necessary adjunct to avoid excessive monetary creation of the kind which had fuelled previous runaway inflations. See BUDGET (GOVERNMENT) entry for further discussion. See MONETARISM, MONETARY POLICY, BUSINESS CYCLE.
fiscal year
the government's accounting year, which, in the UK, runs from 6 April to 5 April the following year. Different countries frequently have a fiscal year different from the normal calendar year. In the USA, the fiscal year runs up to 30 June. See BUDGET ( GOVERNMENT).fiscal year
Accounting year. Many companies use accounting years ending on June 30 or September 30, rather than the calendar year ending on December 31.