By Gareth Hutchens
​Australia's chief tax collector has taken the extraordinary step of accusing the Uber ride-sharing service of making public statements it knows to be false.
He has also hinted Uber may now face tougher scrutiny from tax authorities, given the way it has spoken about its dealings with the ATO.
Tax commissioner Chris Jordan can use his discretion not to apply the anti-avoidance rules if he wants to.Credit: Daniel Munoz
Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan told senators on Wednesday the controversial ride-sharing company had been saying things publicly which it knew to be false.
Earlier this year, Uber had accused the ATO of being unduly influenced by the taxi lobby over its decision to force Uber drivers to register for the GST.
It also claimed the ATO had not provided the same level of consultation to Uber before the new industry rules were written.
In a letter to Mr Jordan, which was leaked to the media, Uber's director of public policy, Brad Kitschke, said the company wanted its concerns investigated.
And two weeks ago, Mr Kitschke sent another letter to Assistant Treasurer Kelly O'Dwyer repeating Uber's complaints.
But Mr Jordan told senators on Wednesday that Uber's claims were incorrect.
He said the ATO had consulted extensively with Uber right up until the new industry guidance was published in May.
"I find the statements of Uber quite odd, because we both know what actually happened," Mr Jordan said in Senate estimates.
"We had entered into consultations with them some six or seven months prior to issuing guidance. We'd worked with them and their advisers over many meetings, many phone hook-ups, to try to come to a mutually agreeable position, [but] we could not [find one]," he said.
"We provided them with our final draft guidance that [was] about to be published. [But] we couldn't get any meaningful co-operation around registration to facilitate their Uber-X drivers to register for an Australian Business Number."
Mr Jordan said it was "quite an odd situation" to hear Uber saying things publicly "which we knew were not correct".
He then hinted the ATO would start looking more closely at Uber's tax affairs, because the situation made him wonder about the company's attitude to the truth.
"If you were to have a company that was not transparent with us, and hadn't co-operated particularly well with us, and in fact made publicly incorrect statements, that could impact our view of them," Mr Jordan said.
But Uber has rejected Mr Jordan's comments, releasing a two-sentence statement afterwards.
"We suggest that Mr Jordan confers with his colleagues before making these claims. The documents reveal a very different story," the statement said.
Labor senator Sam Dastyari says it would now be appropriate to call Uber in to formally give evidence at a public hearing.
"There are too many discrepancies that need to be cleared up and that can only be achieved through frank, open testimony to a parliamentary inquiry," Mr Dastyari said.
With Nassim Khadem