PARIS: French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire forecast there would be a European solution next year on taxing digital giants should global talks at the OECD hit a wall. After months of technical talks, 137 countries met in January under the auspices of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to negotiate a deal on how to tax multinational tech companies. Big EU countries say the so-called GAFA group — Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon — unfairly exploits tax rules that let them declare profits in low-tax havens, depriving other governments of their share. France, Britain, Spain, Italy and others have imposed taxes on the largest digital companies but officials in Washington say that amounts to discrimination against US firms.–Agencies
