Uber Did Not Evade VAT Nor Income Tax: The Platform Is Operated From Abroad (National Court of Economic Crimes)
On the 8th of May, 2019, in the case “Uber Argentina SRL s/infracción ley 24.760(CPE 1838/2016), the Court dismissed Uber on its alleged aggravated tax evasion regarding VAT and Income Tax. In reaching its decision, the Court noted that the accused party - Uber Argentina SRL (a company still in formation) - had never been operational, and that the platform was operated from abroad by a company based in the Netherlands. Finally, the Court held that the foreign company was neither liable to pay national taxes, under the Double Taxation Agreement with the Netherlands, given that no employment relationship exists between the drivers and Uber and, in fact, both subjects provide different services (of transportation and of intermediation, respectively). Consequently, there are no employees or subcontracted personnel through which Uber performs its commercial activity in Argentina, nor does it have a permanent establishment and it is therefore exempt under the Agreement.