Brics tax talks significant amid global rules rewrite: Sitharaman

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the effort by Brics countries to find common ground on international taxation is significant at a time when tax rules are being renegotiated worldwide. Speaking at the Brics tax heads meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday, she said the bloc should pursue the interests of the global South. Brics has 11 members and 10 partners. Under India's chairship, it set up working groups on international taxation and transfer pricing and on revenue statistics.

Written by AI from Hindustan Times — India · not yet reviewed by an editor · Published 23 Sept 2026, 6:28 pm IST

Source

Hindustan Times — India · read the original report ↗

#brics#taxation#nirmala sitharaman#global south#unfcitc

Desk check · compared with the source

What the desk checked (5)

Sitharaman said Brics efforts to find common ground on international taxation are significant as tax rules are renegotiated globally. — Directly attributed to the finance minister, with supporting quotes in the source.
Brics has 11 members and 10 partners, listed by name. — Full lists appear in the source; no external verification performed.
The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in 2023 to begin tax convention negotiations; talks began in 2025 and the text is expected by 2027. — Dates stated in the source without attribution to a named official or document.
Under India's chairship, Brics set up working groups on International Taxation and Transfer Pricing and on Revenue Statistics. — Stated in source and consistent with Sitharaman's remark that the meeting would review scoping documents for two new working groups.
India shared practices such as faceless assessment, pre-filled returns, real-time invoice authentication and AI-enabled taxpayer assistance with Brics partners. — Attributed to the finance minister in the source.

Written by AI from Hindustan Times — India · not yet reviewed by an editor · How we use AI · Report an error

Analysts’ view opinion

AI Economic Analyst

This reads like a conference speech, but the economics underneath are concrete: it is about who gets to tax cross-border profits. By framing BRICS economies as "source jurisdictions" — where the income is actually generated — the bloc is pressing the case that more of multinationals' profits should be taxed in the markets where sales and production happen. A coordinated voice across 11 members and 10 partners could add real bargaining weight in the UN tax convention talks, but the story is still at the intent stage, with no revenue numbers attached.

The phrase "source jurisdictions" is the economic core — the aim is to shift taxing rights away from the developed economies where parent companies sit toward the developing markets where business is done.
The transfer pricing working group is the item with the most direct commercial impact, since it shapes multinationals' effective tax bills, dispute costs and compliance burdens.
Shared standards and tools could lower compliance costs for firms operating across these markets; fragmentation, by contrast, risks double taxation and greater investment uncertainty.
Exporting India's administrative technology — faceless assessment, pre-filled returns, real-time invoice authentication, AI-assisted taxpayer help — is essentially a way to raise collections without raising rates.
The revenue statistics group sounds technical but matters: without comparable data, "fair share" arguments lack the numbers to back them up.

What to watch — Watch whether the scoping documents for the two working groups harden into a single BRICS negotiating position in the UN tax convention process, whose text is expected by 2027, or whether divergent national interests surface first.

The story does not establish how much revenue any country would gain, what the added burden on companies would be, or that BRICS has agreed on any specific rule — this is the start of a process, not an outcome.

Deep dive

Research brief · 8 facts · 5 dates · exam-ready

The brief

Context

India, as chair of Brics this year, hosted a meeting of Brics tax heads in New Delhi where finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the bloc's search for common ground on international taxation matters at a time when global tax rules are being renegotiated. The backdrop is the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation (UNFCITC), a proposed treaty for a fairer and more inclusive global tax system, whose negotiations began in 2025 after a 2023 UN General Assembly resolution. Brics, now 11 members and 10 partners, has positioned itself as a voice for the global South in these multilateral negotiations. Under India's chairship the grouping set up two new working groups and several tax cooperation platforms.

Key facts

Sitharaman said Brics efforts to find common ground on international taxation are significant as tax rules are being renegotiated globally; she spoke at the Brics tax heads meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Brics has 11 members: Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the UAE.
Brics has 10 partners: Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
In 2023 the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to begin negotiations on a new tax convention; negotiations started in 2025 and the text is expected to be finalised by 2027.
Under India's chairship, Brics established two working groups: one on International Taxation and Transfer Pricing, and one on Revenue Statistics.
Brics also promoted the Brics Tax Support Network, the Brics Tax Cross-Learning Lab and the Brics Tax Collaboration Tool, plus an in-person capacity-building programme for young tax professionals and the Brics women in tax network.
Sitharaman named three focus areas of this year's Brics tax track: technology, administration and people.
India shared experiences such as faceless assessment, pre-filled returns, real-time invoice authentication and AI-enabled taxpayer assistance with Brics partners via the Brics tax collaboration tool.

Timeline

2023UN General Assembly adopts a resolution to begin negotiations on a new international tax convention.
2025Negotiations on the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation (UNFCITC) begin.
Recently (under India's chairship)Brics Summit in New Delhi reaffirms commitment to a fair, inclusive, stable and efficient international tax system and to engagement in forums like UNFCITC.
Wednesday (date not stated in the source)Brics tax heads meeting in New Delhi; Sitharaman speaks; meeting to consider scoping documents for the two new working groups.
By 2027Text of the UN tax convention expected to be finalised.

Who has a stake

Ministry of Finance, India / Nirmala Sitharaman — Leading the Brics tax track under India's chairship and shaping a legacy the next chair inherits.
Brics members (11 countries) — As source jurisdictions and large developing economies, securing fairness and durability in multilateral tax negotiations.
Brics partner countries (10) — Access to Brics tax cooperation platforms and a collective voice in global tax rule-making.
United Nations / UNFCITC negotiation process — Finalising a treaty text by 2027 for a fairer, equitable, inclusive and transparent global tax system.
Global South developing economies — Interests represented at multilateral tax forums, including on taxing rights of source jurisdictions.
Tax administrations and young tax professionals in Brics — Capacity building, cross-learning and shared digital tools; women in tax network advancement.

Why it matters

Global tax rules on where and how multinational profits are taxed are being rewritten, and developing countries as source jurisdictions stand to gain or lose revenue depending on the outcome. A coordinated Brics position could shift the balance in the UN tax convention talks whose text is due by 2027. For India, the forum is also a channel to export its digital tax administration practices such as faceless assessment and pre-filled returns.

UPSC angle

Prelims pointers

Brics currently has 11 members and 10 partner countries; India holds the chairship (Summit held in New Delhi).
UNFCITC: UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation, a proposed treaty for a fairer global tax system.
UNGA adopted the resolution to begin tax convention negotiations in 2023; talks began 2025; text expected by 2027.
Two new Brics working groups under India's chairship: International Taxation and Transfer Pricing; Revenue Statistics.
Brics tax initiatives: Tax Support Network, Tax Cross-Learning Lab, Tax Collaboration Tool, women in tax network.
Sitharaman's three focus areas for the Brics tax track: technology, administration, people.

Mains framing

The renegotiation of international tax rules, now centred on the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation, has opened space for developing economies to press claims long shaped by advanced-economy forums. Sitharaman's argument is that Brics economies matter to this process precisely because they are source jurisdictions and large developing economies that have built substantial domestic tax capacity from a low base, making their perspective essential to the fairness and durability of any new settlement. The institutional response under India's chairship is incremental but concrete: two working groups (international taxation and transfer pricing; revenue statistics), scoping documents for them, capacity-building for young tax professionals, a women in tax network, and shared platforms such as the Tax Support Network, Cross-Learning Lab and Tax Collaboration Tool, through which India has shared faceless assessment, pre-filled returns, real-time invoice authentication and AI-enabled taxpayer assistance. The way forward, as framed in the source, rests on three pillars — technology to make administration more precise and less dependent on individual discretion, administration to give cooperation durable institutional shape, and people to sustain it — with the explicit aim that the next chair inherits a foundation rather than a one-off agenda. The open question is whether 11 members with differing economic interests can translate declaratory commitments into a unified negotiating position before the convention text is finalised by 2027.

Key terms

UNFCITC: UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation, a proposed treaty to build a fairer, equitable, inclusive and transparent global taxation system.
Source jurisdiction: A country where income or economic activity originates, and which therefore claims taxing rights over it.
Transfer pricing: Pricing of transactions between related entities of a multinational group, a key area for allocating taxable profits across countries; subject of a new Brics working group.
Faceless assessment: Indian tax administration practice, shared with Brics partners, reducing direct discretionary interface between taxpayer and officer.
Brics Tax Collaboration Tool: Brics platform through which members share tax administration experiences and practices, such as India's digital tax measures.
Global South: Grouping of developing economies whose interests Brics says it will pursue at multilateral forums including the UN tax convention talks.

Practice questions

Discuss how the ongoing renegotiation of international tax rules under the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation affects the taxing rights of developing source jurisdictions like India.
Examine the role of plurilateral groupings such as Brics in shaping multilateral tax negotiations. What institutional steps has India taken during its chairship?
How can digital tax administration tools such as faceless assessment, pre-filled returns and real-time invoice authentication strengthen domestic revenue capacity in developing economies?

Grounded only in the source report — figures and dates are the source's, not inferred.

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