Tax authorities of the five BRICS nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – agreed to enhance their cooperation on international tax matters during the annual meeting of the heads of the BRICS revenue administrations, held in Hangzhou.
In a “Memorandum of Cooperation” signed July 27, the five countries agreed coordinate their response to G20 international taxation work, including the implementation of the OECD/G20 base erosion profit shifting (BEPS) plan work and the standards for automatic exchange of information.
The BRICS countries said they would deepen collective work on international tax issues in international forums, such as the United Nations.
Further, the countries said they would identify taxation areas where BRICS cooperation is sought and propose timetables for conducting work. Work plans for cooperative work will be agreed to at the annual meetings of the heads of BRICS revenue administrations.
The countries agreed also to enhance knowledge sharing regarding BEPS implementation and the standard for automatic exchange of information through exchanging experiences on best practices.
Further, they agreed to assist in tax capacity building in the BRICS countries and in developing nations by conducting training sessions for tax officers, arranging short term expert visits, and providing technical assistance.
In this regard, China specifically pledged to train at least 150 taxation professionals from developing countries annually for the next two years.
Wang Jun, China’s SAT director, proposed at the meeting that BRICS countries should work together to improve the global taxation governance system, actively engage in rule-making, and allow emerging and developing countries to have a bigger say in the area.
