The Evolution of the Budget Process of the Russian Federation in the context of Transformation of Budget Legislation

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the study of the budget process — its legal and doctrinal definitions, the stages of the budget process and the main changes that have occurred in the legal regulation of the budget process. The paper compares the positions of researchers — representatives of financial and legal science on these issues. According to the results of the study, it is concluded that the budget process is a multifaceted and multidimensional category of financial law in the process of constant transformation and development. It is pointed out that there is currently no legal definition of the concept of «stage of the budget process»; this gap should be eliminated by supplementing Article 6 of the Budgetary Code of the Russian Federation. In addition, it can be concluded that most authors, repeating the provisions of the budget legislation, distinguish four stages of the budget process. The concept of a four-stage budget process is the most correct and justified, since it arose as a result of a long evolution of the budget process. At the same time, each stage reflects a separate stage of the budget process, characterized by its own procedures, deadlines, participants, their powers and other essential aspects. At the same time, despite the apparent static nature, manifested in the immutability of the number and sequence of stages of the budget process, its content is constantly changing and being supplemented. The modern budget process strives for a wider application of a program-oriented approach, coupled with the simultaneous introduction of innovative digital technologies. It can be expected that digitalization will continue to have an impact on the content of the budget process in the foreseeable future.