A meeting of BRICS Tax Heads was held in Moscow. The Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin addressed the participants with a welcome speech.
“Success of our tax authorities is unfeasible without effective interaction. National tax administrations play a key role in this process. Much is being done to develop common approaches to tax administration, clear taxation rules and digital services. The outcomes of this work are witnessed across our countries. Taxes are the basis of financial stability for each state. Economic growth as well as business and investment climate improvement directly depend on how tax regulation is carried out”, he emphasized.
Daniil Egorov, FTS Commissioner, appreciated the development of the BRICS Heads of Tax Authorities Forum Governance Framework, and also highlighted the contribution of South African colleagues as the authors of its draft. “The signing of this agreement opens a new stage of our cooperation. It sets the basis for regular joint projects in order to achieve practical outcomes. The experience of this and previous years demonstrates that BRICS tax cooperation has high potential for development, and we can define new ambitious goals”, he noted.
BRICS Heads of Tax Authorities Forum Governance Framework signed at the meeting will replace the annual meetings of tax heads and experts with regular activities of the working groups on improving tax administration in People, Data and Technology workstreams. The document establishes a structure for managing BRICS tax agenda and systematizes the mechanism of cooperation among members of BRICS community.
Participants also discussed the possibility of establishing a permanent secretariat for the BRICS tax administrations. “A year ago, at the meeting in Cape Town we discussed the need for a secretariat. We have always supported the idea of its establishment. We consider that this is an extremely important for practical work. Russia is anchoring the work on establishing a rotational secretariat, and we are excited about it. We believe that the chairmanship handover to Brazil next year will further advance this work. We are all very different with various points of view, but still there is a lot that we agree on and could learn from each other, and this platform provides an excellent opportunity to address practical issues that our authorities face today”, said Sanjay Malhotra, Revenue Secretary, Department of Revenue of the Ministry of Finance, Republic of India.
Zili Cai, Chief Auditor of the State Taxation Administration of the People’s Republic of China, noted that the accession of new members to BRICS fully demonstrates the openness and inclusiveness of the community, as well as viability and attractiveness of its cooperation mechanism.
Dr. Seyed Mohammad Hadi Sobhanian, President of the National Tax Administration of the Islamic Republic of Iran, emphasized: “We are fully committed to sharing knowledge and expertise with our friends and colleagues for increasing our capacity”.
BRICS Tax Heads also highlighted the success of the FTS initiative to apply a project-based approach to BRICS tax activities. Established for the first time in the history of BRICS tax cooperation, Working Groups have focused on key areas of tax administration – VAT Modernization, Sourcing and Use of Data, Client-Centric-Approach, and HR practices. They are aimed at maintaining regular interaction between BRICS tax authorities and achieving practical outcomes of cooperation. The BRICS Tax Heads approved scoping documents of each project, as well as a work plan for a three-year perspective.
Adriana Rego Gomes, Deputy Special Secretary, Secretariat of the Federal Revenue of Brazil, noted that current challenges require tax administrations to be prepared for difficulties. “We have a lot to learn through cooperation, exchange of experience and best practices, and mutual support between our administrations. We have high expectations for upcoming joint work due to the importance of the topics to be discussed”, she said.
“Future activities of the BRICS Tax Heads Forum should resonate with the current international agenda. The goal is to be better represented at international level and promptly respond to international tax reforms”, summarized Daniil Egorov.