Audit finds most Uber drivers without tax numbers

Budapest, February 3 (MTI) – An audit by the tax authorities found that a vast majority of drivers at the ride-hailing service Uber have been operating without a tax number, Csilla Tamás Czinege, deputy state secretary at the economy ministry, said.

Tamás told public Kossuth radio on Wednesday morning that audits started last weekend included some one hundred spot checks and two-thirds of drivers could not show a tax number proving registration with the tax authority. She said the Uber drivers said their company was about to change policy and would not be allowed to provide services without a tax number in the future. Under new policy, the drivers must become self-employed entrepreneurs with a tax number and qualifications to issue an invoice after the ride.

Records show the first invoice for Uber services has been issued and the tax authority is checking that it is in line with all regulations, Tamás said.

Taxi drivers staged a four-day partial roadblock two weeks ago against Uber, complaining that the government had failed to ensure a level playing field in the passenger transport market. Uber drivers have since been sanctioned by their Dutch headquarters to come clean to the tax authorities.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters