Le Thi Thu Huong, vice head of the HCM City Taxation Department, cited the court as saying that the lawsuit was sent to the court late October last year. However, the letter of attorney granted by Uber B.V to Uber Vietnam in 2016 did not allow Uber Vietnam to represent its parent company in lawsuits. So, the lawsuit was blocked from proceeding further. 

HCM City People’s Court has blocked Uber B.V’s legal action against the municipal Taxation Department (photo by VOH)

The HCM City Taxation Department previously sent a notice to Uber that it had to pay VND66.68 billion (USD2.94 million) in tax arrears by December 23, but the company only paid VND13.3 billion (USD586,000).

Uber B.V. filed a complaint with the General Department of Taxation and the Ministry of Finance (MoF) on the grounds that it had fulfilled its tax obligations under the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement signed between Vietnam and the Netherlands.

But the MoF said Uber B.V. is not entitled to tax exemption under the agreement since it generates its income in Vietnam through a network of local partner drivers.

The tax department then asked five banks - Vietcombank, Eximbank, Sacombank, ACB, and VietinBank - to appropriate fares paid to Uber through bank accounts and send them instead to Uber International Holding B.V. The seizure would be done between January 1 and 10.

Uber then decided to take the department to court.

On December 29, the HCM City People’s Court, after considering Uber’s petition, ordered the tax department to suspend the enforcement measures until its final verdict.

But, following the court’s decision, the HCM City Taxation Department will continue enforcement measures for Uber’s tax arrears.