Talks on tech taxes 'productive': Mnuchin

WASHINGTON: The United States and economic partners held "productive" talks this week on the taxation of major tech giants, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Saturday.

Countries like France, Spain and Austria have announced plans to tax tech companies' revenues outright because the Internet-based companies do not declare profits on a by-country basis.

The United States is pushing for an overarching agreement through the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a forum for advanced economies.

Mnuchin told reporters Saturday there had been "lots of productive discussions" on the subject in Washington where finance ministers were gathered for spring meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

He said it is "a priority from our standpoint to find an OECD solution."

"We will be working together to do that and a commitment from the UK and France ... will go with an international solution," Mnuchin said.

EU Economic Commissioner Pierre Moscovici told AFP on Saturday that the "atmosphere is more peaceful" in discussions on the issue.

"There is a shared desire that was clearly expressed that now we have to move forward within the OECD," he said.

OECD members are due to meet in Paris in May, followed by a Group of 20 summit in Japan the following month.