France to apply digital tax whether US returns to negotiations or not

Nearly 140 countries have been negotiating the first rewrite of international tax rules in a generation

France will apply taxes on digital services this year whether the United States returns to negotiations on the issue or not, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Thursday, calling a decision by Washington to pull out of talks a "provocation".

The United States announced on Wednesday it was withdrawing from negotiations with European countries over new global tax rules on digital companies, saying the talks had failed to make any progress.

France, one of several European countries which has enacted new taxes to collect more revenue from digital companies, had agreed to suspend collection of its levy while