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posted by martyb on Friday November 15 2019, @09:20PM   Printer-friendly
from the get-to-refile-four-years-of-state-and-federal-taxes,-too dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

New Jersey is the latest state to say Uber's drivers should be classified as employees rather than independent contractors. The state's labor department said that because of this misclassification, the ride-hailing company owes it roughly $650 million in unemployment taxes and disability insurance, according to Bloomberg Law.

The labor department reportedly has been trying to get unpaid employment taxes from Uber going back as far as 2015, according to documents obtained by Bloomberg Law. It said the company owed the state $523 million in overdue taxes along with another $119 million in interest and penalties for the last four years. Uber disputes these findings.

"We are challenging this preliminary but incorrect determination," an Uber spokesman said in an email. "Because drivers are independent contractors in New Jersey and elsewhere."

Driver classification is an issue that government regulators have been taking a closer look at over the past year. California passed a law in September that could require Uber and other on-demand companies to reclassify their drivers as employees instead of independent contractors. The law is set to go into effect Jan. 1. New York, Oregon and Washington state have considered similar legislation.


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  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 16 2019, @09:00AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 16 2019, @09:00AM (#920933)

    Why yes, there should be a duck test. In fact, there is [irs.gov].

    1) Behavioral: Does the company control or have the right to control what the worker does and how the worker does his or her job?
    2) Financial: Are the business aspects of the worker’s job controlled by the payer? (these include things like how worker is paid, whether expenses are reimbursed, who provides tools/supplies, etc.)
    3) Type of Relationship: Are there written contracts or employee type benefits (i.e. pension plan, insurance, vacation pay, etc.)? Will the relationship continue and is the work performed a key aspect of the business?

    You can find more details on each at the IRS website, but on the surface, it seems like it's a pretty good test to me. I think the argument is that Uber passes/fails that duck test, depending on who is arguing what.

    Unless you are arguing that the current test is bad for some reason, in which case can you please elaborate on which component(s) of the current test are inappropriate and why?

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