Popular ride share app Uber has been accused of not paying its fair share of taxes in New Zealand.
A new report claims the ride share service shifted millions of dollars overseas in what it calls ‘inter-company service fees’ in order to lower its New Zealand tax bill.
Edward Miller, a researcher for the Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research, said the report argues the government would have missed out on “tens of millions of dollars worth” of corporate tax revenue.
According to Uber’s most recently available annual report, in 2023 the company made $365 million in revenue in Aotearoa but reported a profit of $4.5 million.
Miller said this is because the vast majority of the company’s revenue here is “sent offshore as what they call ‘inter-company service fees'”.
“But that money should be being booked here as corporate profits before being sent offshore as dividends to the parent company.”
As a result, Uber paid $1.2 million in corporate tax.
“If the $200 million in inter-company service fees – which we believe are profits that have been shifted to a different jurisdiction – had been booked here in New Zealand, then that would have netted, at a base assumption, around about $50 to $60 million in corporate tax.”
In a statement, Uber told 1News it is a significant contributor in New Zealand and complies with its tax obligations.
Miller is now calling for greater transparency.
“We need to see greater disclosure requirements on multinational digital companies to ensure that more of the benefit is able to be booked here to fund decent public services and public investment in infrastructure,” he said.
It comes as the case of four Uber drivers – who were deemed employees rather than contractors by the Employment Court – heads to the Supreme Court next week after Uber appealed the ruling.
Former Uber driver Nureddin Abdurahman called the process “painful to see them arguing that we deserve less”.
“They’re exploiting the system that it is built on and the Government has a responsibility to step up and say, ‘no, we stand for our country, we stand for our people. You cannot do this.'”
The case is due to be heard next week.