BRICS tax chiefs meet in Delhi as India wraps up chairship with new working groups

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated the BRICS Heads of Tax Authorities Meeting in New Delhi, marking the close of India's chairship of the grouping's tax cooperation track. The meeting was also addressed by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary and Revenue Secretary Arvind Shrivastava.

Hosted by the Central Board of Direct Taxes under the Ministry of Finance, the gathering brought together heads of tax administrations from ten BRICS members — Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. CBDT Chairman Ravi Agrawal, Member (Legislation) Prasenjit Singh, other CBDT members and senior Department of Revenue officers attended.

In her address, Sitharaman identified technology, administration and people as the three themes running through India's chairship. She stressed the role of data and digital infrastructure in making tax administration more precise and accessible, the need for durable institutional mechanisms and practical tools that outlast individual chairships, and the value of investing in people and professional ties across tax administrations. She also said the perspectives of BRICS economies are essential to keeping multilateral tax negotiations fair and durable, including talks on the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation.

The meeting adopted several outcomes. Two new working groups — on International Taxation and Transfer Pricing, and on Revenue Statistics — were established, both to be led by India, creating platforms that will continue beyond the current chairship. The first in-person BRICS Young Tax Professionals Capacity Building Programme, held at the National Academy of Direct Taxes in Nagpur in April 2026, was made an annual feature. The BRICS Tax Cross-Learning Lab was launched, merging the Client-Centric Administration and HR Practices working groups into a joint peer-learning platform, and the Terms of Reference of the BRICS Tax Support Network were approved.

The meeting ended with the signing of the BRICS Tax Progress Report 2026, a full record of India's chairship. China was welcomed as the incoming chair of the tax cooperation track for 2027. The heads of tax authorities commended the Indian government for the organisation of the meeting and the depth of its chairship.