What’s at stake in Uber’s High Court tax fight
The High Court is set to decide whether Uber’s driver payments should be taxed as wages, with implications across the gig economy.
Uber’s six-year battle over state payroll tax goes before the High Court on Wednesday in a case with wide ramifications across the gig economy.
NSW hit the rideshare operator with an $81.5 million assessment for 2015 to 2020, based on amounts paid to its drivers. Other states are poised to follow if the court rules against Uber.
Uber won the first round in the NSW Supreme Court, where Justice David Hammerschlag found it was acting as a “payment collection agent” for drivers.
He accepted that Uber did not pay drivers to perform work. Rather, the payments related solely to the service provided to the passenger, and the drivers provided that service solely to the passenger.
