The Fifth Belt and Road Initiative Tax Administration Cooperation Forum (BRITACOF), on the theme of “Deepening Tax Administration Cooperation for High-Quality Belt and Road Development”, was successfully convened in Hong Kong, China on 24 September 2024. Autumn is a harvest time of the year, so does this fruitful BRITACOF. After three days of discussions, the fifth BRITACOF drew to a close on 26 September with all agenda fulfilled and nine outcomes released on September 26. Mr. Wang Daoshu, Executive Secretary of the BRITACOM Secretariat introduced the contents of outcomes, namely Four Reports of the Task Forces of the Nur-Sultan Action Plan (2022-2024), the Joint Statement of the Fifth Belt and Road Initiative Tax Administration Cooperation Forum, the Hong Kong Action Plan (2025-2027), Maldives Inland Revenue Authority joining the BRITACOM as a new Member Tax Administration, the establishment of the BRITA•Algiers, and the Annual Report of the BRITACOM (2024).

 

 

The Four Reports, which consist of the Report of the Task Force on Raising Tax Certainty (2022-2024), the Report of the Task Force on Promoting Tax Administration Digitalization (2022-2024), and the Report of the Task Force on Improving Tax Environment (2022-2024), introduce the background and scope of the corresponding themes, analyze the overall situation based on the questionnaires, share good practices and advanced experiences, and put forward suggestions for future development. The Report on the Work of the BRITACEG (2022-2024) and the Video Showcasing the Training Achievements of the BRITACEG (2022-2024) provide a comprehensive picture of the development and progress of the BRITACEG over the past three years.

 

The Joint Statement, which consists of five parts, including overview, positions, outcomes and objectives, elaborates on the achievements of the Belt and Road Initiative over the past 10 years, recognizes the contributions made by the BRITACOM over the past five years, and reaffirms the importance and necessity for all parties to build consensus and strengthen cooperation under the framework of the Nur-Sultan Action Plan (2022-2024). In the future, all parties will more actively participate in global tax governance to establish a more stable and clear rule of law-based system on tax matters and administration procedures, accelerate the in-depth integration of digital technology and tax administration, streamline tax compliance, optimize the quality of tax services, and thus reach the goal of building a growth-friendly tax environment.

 

The Action Plan sets out the cooperation visions and practical initiatives of all parties from 2025 to 2027, which mainly include raising tax certainty, promoting digital transformation of tax administration, improving tax environment and reinforcing capacity building of tax administration, as well as paying attention to the new trends and development in related areas. In addition, it has drawn up a blueprint for the next three years, set out the priorities of the BRITACOM and formulated an implementation framework.

 

The Annual Report focuses on the achievement and development of the BRITACOM in the past year, including the Secretariat, the Fourth BRITACOF, the various events, the BRITACEG, the implementation of the Nur-Sultan Action Plan (2022-2024), the official website, the Belt and Road Initiative Tax Journal (BRITJ), and the Advisory Board, which better helps relevant parties to further understand the BRITACOM.

 

On the closing ceremony, it was also declared the Inland Revenue Department of Nepal will host the Sixth BRITACOF in 2025 and the Directorate General of Taxes of Indonesia will host the Seventh BRITACOF in 2026.