tax and customs administration
21 November 2006
India, Brazil and South Africa have agreed to enhance co-operation on tax
and customs to help boost trade and economic development, while also seeking to
thwart smuggling, drug trafficking, fraud and tax avoidance in the three
nations.
India's Revenue Secretary, Mr KM Chandrasekhar, Brazil's Federal Revenue
Secretary, Mr JD Rachid, and South African Revenue Service (SARS) Commissioner,
Mr PJ Gordhan, signed a joint declaration committing their organisations to
closer ties across a wide range of areas on both the revenue and customs
fronts.
The declaration was signed at the end of a three-day inaugural meeting of
the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Heads of Revenue Administrations to
discuss current developments in tax, trade facilitation and customs held
outside Pretoria. The meeting was conducted under the auspices of the IBSA
Dialogue Forum established between the three countries to further economic
co-operation, and follows the first IBSA heads of government summit in Brazil
in September this year.
Central to today's declaration was an agreement to exchange information
between the three revenue authorities to help identify high-risk transactions
and to speed up the processing of imports and exports. They also agreed to
share information on tax, especially abusive tax avoidance arrangements and
schemes using the Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreements, already in place.
Where appropriate, they agreed to perform simultaneous tax audits on common
business entities. Another area for further co-operation will be working
together to develop common positions for trade facilitation negotiations.
The heads of the revenue administrations also agreed to establish an IBSA
Revenue Administration Working Group to further expedite links between their
organisations.
Trade between South Africa, Brazil and India has risen sharply over the past
few years and is expected to grow even more significantly once a formal trade
agreement is in place between the IBSA partners. Trade between Brazil and South
Africa rose to more than R10 billion in 2005 from R6,6 billion two years
earlier. Trade between India and South Africa totalled more than R14 billion
last year; more than double that of 2003.
A photograph of the signing of the declaration is available on the SARS
website: http://www.sars.gov.za, under
"current news." Follow the link at the end of the press release on the website
for a copy of the photograph.
Enquiries:
Logan Wort
Tel: (012) 422 4072
Cell: 083 447 0466
Issued by: South African Revenue Service
21 November 2006
