Ministry to determine legal status of Uber

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has instructed the Transport Ministry to work with Ho Chi Minh City authorities to determine Uber's legal status in Vietnam.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has instructed the Transport Ministry towork with Ho Chi Minh City authorities to determine Uber's legal statusin Vietnam.

Uber launched its service in HCM City in July and hassince signed contracts with 200 licensed transport firms. It startedoperating in Hanoi in October.

Transportofficials said in early December that the company was not qualified toprovide transport services because it failed to meet tax regulations.

Ubercommunications head for South Asia Karun Arya previously told localmedia that Uber did not operate any vehicles or drivers, but only helpedbuild a bridge between passengers and licensed transport firms.

Inan interview with online newspaper Vietnam Plus, Nguyen Quang Tien,Director of the Ministry of Finance's Department of Tax Reform andModernisation, said tax officials recently met with a representativefrom Uber International Holding B.V. and determined the income source ofUber in Vietnam.

According to Tien, Uber said it generatedincome from new account and cancellation fees as well as trip costs. Theaccount fee was returned to the customer once his or her credit cardwas approved, so it did not count toward Uber's revenue.

Tiensaid Uber was planning to transfer 80 percent of its revenue (tripcosts) to local transport firms that it signed with and keep a 20percent service fee.

According to Tien, Uber would soon release the names of transport firms that it had partnered with.

Uber also informed tax officials during the meeting that localtransport firms should be responsible for fulfilling tax obligations,based on contracts signed with Uber.

According toTien, Uber International Holding B.V. in the Netherlands would sign thisand Uber Vietnam would only focus on supporting activities, marketingand training, which means that currently Uber Vietnam has not generatedrevenue.

Tien said tax authorities were working ontwo options for holding Uber accountable for paying taxes in Vietnam.The first option would be requiring Uber International Holding B.V., themother company in the Netherlands, to pay 3 percent of value-added taxon revenue generated from the transport cost and 2 per cent of thebusiness income tax since Uber International Holding B.V. still directlyparticipates in Vietnam operations.

The secondoption would be requiring Uber to pay 5 percent of the value-added taxand business income tax based on its total revenue in Vietnam.

Regarding regulating the revenue of Uber as well as its partnertransport firms, Tien said relevant agencies could track the company'sactivities and receipts stored in host computers in Vietnam and abroadto determine if there were tax violations.-VNA

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