Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said international tax rules are being renegotiated and called on BRICS economies to actively contribute to shaping the emerging framework for cross-border taxation.
Addressing the BRICS Tax Heads Meeting 2026 in New Delhi, Sitharaman said several multilateral tax negotiations, including the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation, are currently underway and decisions taken over the coming years could shape international taxation for a generation.
“The rules of international taxation are being renegotiated. There are several multilateral tax negotiations, including the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation, under active negotiation,” she said.
Sitharaman said BRICS economies, as source jurisdictions and large developing economies that have built significant domestic tax capacity from a low base, have an important role in ensuring that the emerging international tax structure is fair.
Her comments come amid efforts by developing economies and countries of the Global South to secure a greater role in shaping the international taxation framework.
“The decisions made in these processes over the next few years will shape cross-border taxation for a generation. BRICS economies — as source jurisdictions, as large developing economies, as countries that have built significant domestic tax capacity from a low base — have a perspective on those negotiations that is essential to their fairness and their durability,” she said.
Sitharaman also said India, as the BRICS chair, aims to produce a set of decisions that would go beyond the current year and create institutional mechanisms that can be carried forward by future BRICS presidencies.
Following the taxation meeting, two working groups have been proposed — one on international taxation and transfer pricing and another on revenue statistics — to address challenges faced by developing-country tax administrations.
“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. These working groups exist because every country in this room has experienced these problems,” she said.
The proposed working groups will provide a sustained institutional platform for BRICS countries to work on these issues rather than attempting to resolve them within a single chairship.
