Tax Justice Aotearoa slams Uber's irresponsible tax behaviour at a time of stretched public services

Tax Justice Aotearoa welcomes the report Estimating Uber's tax gap in Aotearoa published by the Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research in collaboration with FIRST Union and E tū.

Glenn Barclay, Chair of Tax Justice Aotearoa, says: “This report starkly showcases Uber's irresponsible tax practices in Aotearoa New Zealand”.

“With Uber reporting paying income tax that is under 4% of the estimated income tax it should have paid, it's clear these practices are depriving our stretched public services of the funding they so desperately need”, added Barclay.

“As New Zealand prepares for greater stress on our public health system due to Covid-19, the Government needs to double down on ensuring multinationals and high net-worth individuals are paying their fair share of tax, including through investing in IRD staff and resources, as this report recommends.”

Tax Justice Aotearoa will continue its work to get a tax system in Aotearoa that stops inequality and makes sure every person can get the public health and education services they need to thrive.


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Contact: Glenn Barclay
Email: [email protected]

Notes to Editors:

  • The CICTAR report is available online at http://cictar.org/UberNZtaxgap. The report notes that Uber NZ reported income tax paid of $235,658 in 2020, less than 3.7% of estimated income tax payments.
  • The report documents a lack of transparency in Uber's tax and corporate structure.
  • The report recommends, amongst other things, that NZ implements full public country by country reporting for all multinationals, that IRD is sufficiently staffed and resourced to investigate tax avoidance by multinationals and high net-worth individuals, and that legislation ensures workers (such as Uber drivers) are not denied employment rights and benefits by being misclassified as independent contractors.