For some time Australian Taxation Office boss Chris Jordan has expressed publicly his frustration that technology giant Uber is not cooperative with the ATO on issues like its drivers paying GST, and that therefore the company could become the subject of an audit.
"If you were to have a company that was not transparent with us, and hadn't co-operated particularly well with us, and in fact made publicly incorrect statements, that could impact our view of them," Mr Jordan said at a senate estimates hearing last year.
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Senate hearing: Uber, Airbnb front up
Uber and Airbnb both faced the senate inquiry into corporate tax avoidance in November 2015, but their answers did not impress.
When Uber was asked by Fairfax Media about whether the ATO was auditing its tax affairs a spokeswoman for the company said there was "no audit underway".
On Friday ATO deputy commissioner, international, Mark Konza told Fairfax Media this was not accurate and that there was a need to correct the record.
He did not go far as saying an audit was taking place. It could be that one is, or alternatively, that the company is still under review over its tax affairs, and at some stage this could move into an official audit.
"We would be concerned about any suggestion that the ATO is not active in monitoring and examining the tax arrangements of companies in the e-commerce sector," Mr Konza said in an emailed statement.
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"Uber's statement to [Fairfax Media] yesterday may lead Australians to conclude that Uber's tax arrangements are not being carefully examined by the ATO. The ATO considers that statement to be misleading."
Uber did not respond to Fairfax Media's request for comment.
The ATO last month told Fairfax Media 35 e-commerce companies are under review or audit by the Australian Taxation Office for routing income through low-tax nations such as Singapore to avoid paying tax locally.Â
The popular ride-sharing service, which until recently has been operating illegally in most Australian states including Victoria and NSW, has lodged its Australian financial accounts stating the amount of corporate tax the company pays has increased from $401,945 in 2015Â to $2.5 million in 2016.
But the 2015 figure in its accounts lodged with the corporate regulator are at odds with the figure Uber provided in a statement to the Senate inquiry into corporate tax avoidance earlier this year. That statement, provided in February by Uber's director of public policy Brad Kitschke, said the amount of tax Uber paid in 2015 was $249,280.
Uber did not clarify why the difference existed only telling Fairfax:Â "The information within our filing to ASIC is standard and all appropriate detail is included within the document."
The true extent of Uber's tax bill could become clearer when the ATOÂ releases its list of tax paid by the nation's top public companies later this year.
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