Finance Committee's responsibility
The Finance Committee is where consideration of the draft Budget takes place. For this purpose it is divided into eight subcommittees, each of which is responsible for a specific administrative sector. The Subcommittee for Tax Affairs considers the revenue side of the Budget as well as tax legislation, while the other subcommittees focus on expenditure.
The subcommittees follow procedures that largely correspond to the way committees normally work. They hear experts up until the middle of November, then hold a final debate and decide on any changes to the government proposal. Such changes are usually of minor significance in money terms.
The subcommittees complete their reports around the beginning of December, and then the Finance Committee approves the Budget item by item. Numerous votes are conducted at this point, but very few changes are made to the reports prepared by the subcommittees. Opposition MPs usually file protests to the Finance Committee's report at this time.