Australia’s High Court upheld New South Wales (NSW) payroll-tax assessments totaling A$81,515,923 against Uber, finding that covered driver payments count as wages under state law for the years at issue.
The court issued its decision Nov. 4 in a case over assessments for financial years ending June 30, 2015, through June 30, 2020. The A$81,515,923 figure is the assessment total, not a final amount including interest; the judgment did not specify interest owed. The court dismissed Uber’s appeal and ordered the company to pay the Chief Commissioner of State Revenue’s legal costs. Justice Simon Steward was the lone dissenter.
The majority found that Uber’s Driver Contracts were relevant contracts under state law because the company obtained drivers’ services for its rideshare business. The court described Uber as the payment intermediary: riders paid the company, which transferred drivers’ share after deducting service and other fees. It held that amounts transferred in relation to work under a relevant Driver Contract were wages for purposes of the Payroll Tax Act 2007 (NSW).
The ruling is limited to payroll tax. The law deems certain payments under relevant contracts to be wages and treats the parties as employer and employee for purposes of the Act; the decision does not settle drivers’ status under other employment laws.
Chief Justice Stephen Gageler described the provisions as part of a longer state effort to preserve payroll-tax revenue when contractual form might mask the working arrangement. He said the law can cover gig-economy arrangements that meet its terms.
The case shifted direction through the state courts. The NSW Supreme Court set aside the assessments in 2024, but the NSW Court of Appeal restored them in 2025. The High Court then rejected Uber’s appeal.
ABC News reported that Uber said it respected the decision but warned it could affect other intermediary business models. The High Court ruling addressed Uber’s liability under NSW law.
