Taxi Driver Online

Good Law Project forces HMRC to collect £1.5bn in VAT from Uber

Way back in April 2017, we announced we were going to take on HMRC’s failure to assess Uber to VAT which corroded public trust, not only in HMRC, but in politics more generally.

And it’s been quite the scrap…

There have been lows – like us spending the money we raised in the crowdfunder trying to get a protective costs order and failing.

And there have been highs – like us persuading the High Court late last year that a fairly spineless HMRC was allowed to do what the legislation plainly allowed it to do and tell us it had (at last) assessed Uber.

There have been further lows – as last week when the Court of Appeal refused us permission to bring our judicial review against HMRC.

But ultimately we triumphed. Uber’s US accounts now confirm that HMRC has assessed Uber to VAT on fares – both prospectively and retrospectively.

And that’s all we ever wanted.

It’s been a long, bumpy (and expensive) ride – if you’ll allow me the metaphor – but we have reached our destination. I am so proud that together we have forced HMRC, belatedly, to act – Uber has now been asked to pay the £1.5bn of tax they owe the public purse.

We couldn’t have done it without your support. So thank you.

I’d also like to thank the lawyers – George Peretz QC, Jack Anderson, Hui Ling McCarthy QC, Christopher Knight, David Greene, Vikram Sachdeva QC, and Alex Rook – who helped out, most for even less than the smell of an oily rag, along the way.

_________________
IDFIMH

Asked? does that mean that they have a choice?

_________________
Grandad,

The asked part is what Uber have put on their accounts, as per US law.

Now we know HMRC never ask, they demand, but we are dealing with the spin machine that is Uber.

Now clearly this will go to appeal, but the interesting thing is that every job Uber do in the UK will lose them even more money.

This is, IMO, the main reason they are going down the Autocab operator's route. In other words moving the VAT issue to operators.

_________________
IDFIMH

and if uber decides to refuse to pay up ?

_________________
lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Their Directors will end up in jail, having first been sacked by their shareholders.

_________________
IDFIMH

They could always go Bankrupt

_________________
Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

If it was the us IRS demanding it but I suspect none of their directors are UK nationals and there is no way trump would allow them to be extradited

I think Uber will have another trick up their sleeves such as declaring Uber Britannica bankrupt and operating all of their businesses and bank accounts offshore

Although more likely Uber will cut a deal and offer a much lower amount in settlement

_________________
lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

If they operate all their businesses offshore they will not be able to operate private hire here, licenses will not be granted by Councils, perhaps that is why they are pushing the auto-cab scenario, local operators to pay all the vat and carry the can for all uber shortcomings and indiscretions.

Another scenario could be that if you are an employee on PAYE and your employer does not pay your PAYE then the tax man can recover the unpaid tax from that employee. This happened to my brother in law a few years ago.
So based on that if the company doesn't pay the VAT can the VAT man recover this VAT from the driver or operator that the driver was working through?

_________________
Grandad,

The logic answer given your example would be yes.

If I were an UBER driver I may have a very twitchy bum at the moment.

_________________
Grandad,

Think that may apply to any private hire driver at the moment.

Should the courts deem the demand to be lawful Uber will pay it.

Ongoing will be different as they can, if they want, get the punters to pay the drivers directly and only take a % rather than pay the drivers a %.

_________________
IDFIMH

I thought the point of apps like Ufail was that they are in control of the money

_________________
lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

If they do that the argument about their business model totally changes.
As we know they have always been a private hire operator and should have operated under the same rules as every other operator in the UK.