Meeting of the Heads of Tax Authorities of the BRICS countries

Meeting of the Heads of Tax Authorities of the BRICS countries, namely the Federal Republic of Brazil, the Russian Federation, the Republic of India, the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of South Africa was held on May 29, 2020.

The authorities discussed the response of BRICS Tax Authorities to the COVID-19 pandemic and to explore potential areas of cooperation in tax matters.

The meeting was scheduled to be held in Moscow but was held through video conference in view of COVID-19.

The tax heads of other BRICS nations shared the measures taken by their respective tax administrations.

They discussed other important topics like tax challenges posed by digitalization and the exchange of information.

A communiqué was issued by the tax heads at the meeting.

The Finance Secretary shared the various measures taken by India to mitigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the taxpayers including deferment of compliance requirements, reduced rate of interest on delayed payments, and reduction in withholding tax rates.

Dr. Pandey also discussed the ongoing work in the OECD/G-20 project on addressing tax challenges posed by digitalization, underlined the need to ensure that the new tax rules are fair and simple.

He highlighted the need for adopting a “Whole of Government Approach” in dealing with cross-border financial crimes as they have ramifications in respect of various statutes, not only taxation.