CANBERRA: Uber – the Silicon Valley technology giant with a market valuation of over US$60 billion – paid just over $403,000 tax in Australia over a three-year period.
Uber’s response to questions it took on notice at the Senate inquiry into corporate tax avoidance, obtained by Fairfax Media, confirm the company pays tax on fraction of its local earnings.Its director of public policy Brad Kitschke, who was unable to answer questions about its tax bill at the November public hearing, has now come back with the figures.
The amount of corporate tax Uber paid in Australia has only slightly increased from $19,387 in 2013, to $134,387 in 2014, and then $249,280 in 2015.
Its financial accounts lodged with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission late last year show that the popular ride-sharing service earned $804,399 in revenue in 2013. But even its local revenue does not paint the full picture.
Uber, which currently employs about 20,000 drivers across Australia, only counts 75 per cent of each transaction locally. The rest – 25 per cent of each transaction in Australia – is routed through the Netherlands.
