BRICS countries keen on reining in tax-dodging MNCs: Official

A mutually acceptable mechanism among BRICS nations needs to be worked out to ensure that MNCs do not dodge taxes, along with norms to curb black money and bring those accused of corruption and tax evasion to book, an Indian official said on Sunday.

"Another key issue that we are pushing, is the issue of tax evasion, black money and corruption. Tax evasion, because under the complex international tax architecture, there are companies especially MNCs and others which have a presence across borders, they end up paying no tax anywhere and they shift their profits," said Economic Relations Secretary Amar Sinha said at a press conference on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in this south Goa town.

"So one of the key ideas is that the taxation and the BRICS leaders have agreed, that the taxation should happen at the point where the activity takes place, not where perhaps their registered headquarters are or where their main subsidiary is or the holding company is.

"That is one way of sort of evading taxes and there are companies which are not paying taxes anywhere," he said.

Sinha also said that there was need for mutually agreeable norms to bring to book white collar criminals who cross international borders to avoid action.

"Both, people who are needed for corruption or white collar crimes or tax evasion have fled. They have to be brought back and along with that the assets and the money that is parked in safe havens, needs to be brought back. So tax evasion, black money and people who are needed in corrupt cases, etc, are key decision of the BRICS leaders and develop norms which could be accepted by others," he said.

--IANS

maya/vd