Uber pays New Jersey $100 million in back taxes over driver employment status

Uber signage is posted at Los Angeles Worldwide Airport (LAX) in Los Angeles, California, U.S. July 10, 2022. REUTERS/David Swanson

Sept 12 (Reuters) – Uber Applied sciences Inc (UBER.N) mentioned on Monday it back-paid New Jersey $100 million in unemployment taxes over classifying drivers as contractors, however added that it didn’t agree with the state’s view that drivers had been “workers.”

Uber additionally mentioned it solely paid a fraction of what the state had initially demanded in its audit, which was over $1 billion. The ride-hailing firm made a cost of $12.1 million, whereas its subsidiary Raiser paid about $88 million.

“Drivers in New Jersey and nationally are unbiased contractors who work when and the place they need… We sit up for working with policymakers to ship advantages whereas preserving the pliability drivers need,” an Uber spokesperson informed Reuters.

New Jersey’s Division of Labor and Workforce Improvement had fined Uber and Raiser in 2019 over unpaid unemployment taxes for the years 2014-2018 resulting from driver misclassification, which the corporate disputed.

The state’s labor division has now mentioned its preliminary audit was an estimate made with out Uber’s cooperation, in line with the New York Occasions, which had first reported the information.

A subsequent audit, counting on employee payroll knowledge equipped by Uber, assessed that Uber and its unit owed a mixed $100 million in again taxes, penalties and curiosity, the report added.

The division didn’t reply to Reuters’ request for touch upon the previous and new audit estimates.

New Jersey mentioned that it noticed the settlement as a sign that these staff within the state had been “presumed to be workers,” in line with the NYT. Uber, nevertheless, has mentioned that the cost was not a part of “a settlement.”

“Our efforts to fight employee misclassification in New Jersey are persevering with to maneuver ahead,” the report mentioned, quoting Robert Asaro-Angelo, the labor division’s commissioner, as saying.

Reporting by Lavanya Ahire, Shubhendu Deshmukh and Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru; modifying by Uttaresh.V

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