UBER ORDERED TO PAY $81 MILLION AUSTRALIAN PAYROLL TAX BILL

Australia's High Court has ruled that Uber must pay $81 million in payroll tax to the New South Wales Chief Commissioner of State Revenue, dismissing the company's appeal. Six of the seven justices found Uber's drivers were engaged under contracts and their fares counted as wages under payroll tax law. The ruling covers the 2015 to 2020 financial years, upholding a tax office assessment issued in 2021. Uber had argued it was only a "payment collection agent" for fares, not an employer. Chief Justice Stephen Gageler led the majority, and Uber must also pay the Chief Commissioner's costs.

Uber won the case in the NSW Supreme Court, but the Court of Appeal overturned that ruling last year. The majority judgment said Uber had "structured its rideshare system business so payments from riders are funnelled through it," giving it "substantive control over the fares before they are remitted to drivers." Gageler wrote that payroll tax provisions had "continued 'always speaking in the present' to participants in the gig economy which emerged in this century." Uber said the ruling could have "significant unintended consequences" for other businesses.

The ruling could leave Uber facing further liabilities after 2020, pushing its total bill above $100 million. The Transport Workers' Union called the decision a "critical reality check to companies seeking to skirt our laws" and said gig economy companies' "time is up." Legal expert Celeste Black said the case would probably shape payroll tax obligations for gig economy companies broadly. New South Wales Finance Minister Courtney Houssos said payroll tax "helps fund essential services that families and households rely on," and that "local businesses pay their fair share."