Uber Examined by IRS and Foreign Authorities for Tax Charges

Uber is being examined by U.S. tax authorities and said that its potential tax charges in a number of key markets could change, according to Bloomberg.

The recently-listed ride-hailing company said in its S-1 disclosure in April, and repeated in its 10-Q filing, that the IRS is examining the tax years for 2013 and 2014. Uber also added that it is under examination by other state and foreign tax authorities, and that its tax benefits are to be cut due to the company’s "transfer pricing positions.

Transfer pricing concerns the transactions of goods and services among corporate subsidiaries, and has sometimes been seen as ways to shift income to low-tax jurisdictions. In 2017 European authorities fined Amazon $294 million for booking profits in a tax free unit located in Luxembourg that was meant to license the technology behind its web shopping platform.

While Uber said it believes it has adequate amounts that have been reserved in the relevant jurisdictions, tax years from 2010 to 2019 could be adjusted in a number of its key markets, including the U.S., U.K., the Netherlands, and India. Uber’s reveal of its IRS investigation arrived the same morning analysts at the ride-sharing company’s banks began research coverage of the San Francisco-based company with buy ratings.