The 30-share barometer closed higher by 228.23 pts or 0.63 per cent at 36,701.16, hours ahead of a presser by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

In her maiden Budget in July, she had cut corporate tax for companies with annual turnover of up to Rs 400 crore to 25 per cent from 30 per cent. Last year, the then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had cut the corporate income tax rate to 25 per cent for companies with a turnover of up to Rs 250 crore. 

Sitharaman on Saturday asked the I-T Department to bridge the communication gap between tax officials and the assessees and sought a change in mindset amid allegations of "tax terrorism". 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today amid reports of a slowdown in various sectors. PM Modi is likely to announce a series of measures to infuse more energy in the economy, news agency IANS reports.

7th Pay Commission: There's good news for the central government employees. Employees who are still waiting for the minimum pay hike beyond the 7th Pay Commission recommendations are expected to get some good news ahead of Dussehra festival.

Addressing captains of the industry at the CII national council meeting, the finance minister also said from next week she would be meeting industry people in different parts to the country over tax harassment-related issues and redress grievances on the spot.

"Mr PM, the economy has derailed and there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel. If your incompetent FM is telling you there is light, trust me it's the train of recession coming at full throttle," he said on Twitter.

While she stressed that taxpayers should treat tax payment as a contribution towards nation-building and not as a punishment, the minister asked three investigating wings of the revenue department to share information among themselves to nab evaders.

Sitharaman's response to queries of reporters here came in the backdrop of state political parties protesting the conduct of recent Postal department exams in English and Hindi only.  

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said that the tax proposals in the Finance Bill 2019 are aimed at improving the ease of living and reducing the pain of the citizens

Total bad loans of commercial banks declined by Rs 1.02 lakh crore to Rs 9.34 lakh crore in the 2018-19 fiscal on the back of steps taken by the government, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Tuesday.

7th Pay Commission: Days after Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament, Central government employees can get good news by the end of July. Central government employees are expected to get an increment in Dearness Allowance (DA) of up to 5 per cent.

​Giving point-by-point rebuttal to senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said in the Rajya Sabha that all revenue targets in the budget are realistic and India will become a $5 trillion economy in the next five years.

No new announcement was made regarding their impending demands on the 7th Pay Commission recommendations in the Modi government's Union Budget 2019.

Modi Government has launched Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) under which you will get gold at a cheaper rate as compared to the market price. The price of one gram gold has been kept at Rs 3,443. Notably under this instead of gold, one will get bond of the gold purchased issued by the RBI bank.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's office has already clarified there is "no ban" on the entry of media persons in the Ministry and that just a procedure has been brought in for "streamlining and facilitating" the entry of media persons.

The voting on the Finance Bill is also expected to be taken up on Wednesday afternoon and the ruling BJP issued a whip to its members to be present in the House.

Justifying raising of tax incidence on the super-rich, the finance ministry said the highest tax rate in India was still lower than many countries, including the US and China, and it was a worldwide phenomenon to ask the super-rich to pay extra tax.

The government has lowered the fiscal deficit target to 3.3 percent of the GDP as it is expecting net additional revenue of Rs 6,000 crore over the interim Budget estimates.  

The decision to raise import duty on gold in the Union Budget was taken after a careful consideration, including its likely impact on smuggling of the yellow metal, a top government official said.