Uber pays New Jersey $100 million in delinquent taxes on drivers' employment status

Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER) paid New Jersey $100 million in back taxes for misclassifying drivers as independent contractors, the New York Times reported on Monday.

Uber noted that it disagreed with New Jersey's classification of drivers as "workers" and that it only paid a portion of the more than $1 billion the state first demanded in its audit. In the statement, there was no mention of the payment amount.

"Nationally and in New Jersey, drivers are independent contractors who work at their own discretion... We anticipate engaging with legislators to deliver benefits while preserving drivers' desired flexibility "The Uber representative told Reuters.

Due to driver misclassification, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development fined Uber and its subsidiary Raiser in 2019 for unpaid unemployment taxes for the years 2014 to 2018, which the company contested.

According to the New York Times, the state's labor office has now claimed that their initial assessment was merely an estimate conducted without Uber's involvement.

A later audit concluded that Uber and its subsidiary owed a total of $100 million in delinquent taxes, penalties, and interest, according to the report.

New Jersey claimed in the report that the settlement suggested that these laborers were "presumed to be employees." Uber declared that the payment was not a "settlement."

In the study, Robert Asaro-Angelo, the commissioner of the labor department, is reported as saying, "Our efforts to prevent misclassification of workers in New Jersey continue to advance."