Britain will unilaterally implement digital service tax if no international agreement soon, says Hammond

Britain will unilaterally implement a digital service tax if there is no wider international agreement soon on how to tax the world's biggest Internet companies, finance minister Philip Hammond said on Monday.

"The best way to tax international companies is through international agreements but the time for talking is coming to an end and the stalling has to stop," Hammond will tell the Conservative Party conference in the English city of Birmingham.

"If we cannot reach an agreement, the UK will go it alone with a Digital Services Tax of its own," he will say, according to a text of his speech. 

(With inputs from agencies.)