FM pushes BRICS for stronger voice on global tax rules

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said transfer pricing disputes disproportionately burden developing countries, as India pushed for two new BRICS working groups on international taxation and transfer pricing, and revenue statistics.

Addressing the BRICS Heads of Tax Authorities meeting, Sitharaman said the groups would provide sustained institutional platforms to address common tax challenges and continue beyond India's chairship. China will take over the BRICS presidency in 2027.

"Transfer pricing disputes cost developing-country administrations disproportionately. Revenue frameworks that don't fit our fiscal realities distort how we are seen and how we see ourselves," she said. Sitharaman said global tax rules are being renegotiated through several multilateral processes, including the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation, and decisions taken over the next few years could shape cross-border taxation for a generation.

"BRICS economies... have a perspective on those negotiations that is essential to their fairness and their durability," she said.

The International Taxation and Transfer Pricing Working Group will provide a platform for sharing experience on treaty interpretation, transfer pricing audits, advance pricing agreements and mutual agreement procedures, besides multilateral tax negotiations. Revenue Secretary Arvind Shrivastava said BRICS' collective voice in such negotiations is currently insufficient. The Revenue Statistics Working Group will seek to develop a framework for measuring fiscal performance that reflects BRICS economies rather than relying on assumptions developed for different economies.

Sitharaman also highlighted India's use of faceless assessment, pre-filled returns, real-time invoice authentication and AI-enabled taxpayer assistance, saying technology, governance and investment in people were key themes in BRICS tax cooperation.

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The Hans India