Online cab service Uber has passed on the onus of paying service tax to cab drivers and has agreed to provide details about their cab drivers to the tax authorities, reports The Economic Times citing a department official privy to the development. Last week, Indian tax authorities had asked Uber’s Indian subsidiary to provide details on its Indian operations, since it believed that Uber is liable to pay service tax to the government. Mumbai Service Tax Commissioner SK Solanki told PTI that Uber has not paid them a single penny in taxes so far and its not clear to them yet on how different Uber is from other cab service providers like Meru who already pay service tax. However, it's worth noting that unlike Meru, Uber doesn’t own these taxis or employ drivers on its own, rather it ties up with taxi fleets or cab owners to offer its service. Hence, the company believes that cab drivers are liable to pay service tax and file returns. Effectively, it is a technology platform. The tax department however has concerns with this approach since the service tax is applicable only if the turnover is over Rs 10 lakh, and it's quite possible that individual taxi drivers many not attract tax, if their turnover is lesser than than this limit. Hence, it was reportedly considering taking the combined turnover of Uber into account. Indian entity offers is just a tech support office: There is also a concern of Uber operating in the country through a Dutch-based entity Uber BV, which neither has an office nor a representative in India. This…
