The US Department of the Treasury (DoT) reached agreements on digital services taxes with five European nations as part of a larger framework on international taxation agreed earlier this month by the OECD.

In a statement, DoT officials explained Austria, France, Italy, Spain and the UK agreed long-term changes to unilateral digital service taxes, though formal deals were yet to be ratified by political leaders.

The DoT explained the countries will continue to implement their own tax schemes until the end of 2023, while they wait for the OECD plans to begin. There was also agreement on offering digital companies tax credits if liabilities exceed the sums which would be due under the incoming framework.

In return, the US agreed not to impose fresh trade sanctions against the five countries relating to current digital services taxes. It will also abandon current proposals for penalties related to this issue.

If the nations do not adopt the new tax rules by end-2023, US companies will not receive the tax credits.

Digital services taxes imposed by non-domestic governments have represented a growing cost for US-based companies including Facebook, Amazon and Google.