AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Experts for the Dutch government have found that an Uber lobbying campaign between 2013 and 2015 did not lead to special tax treatment for the U.S. company in the Netherlands, where it has its international headquarters.
The panel was appointed by the Finance Ministry to review the Dutch tax office’s treatment of Uber after an international consortium of investigative journalists in July reported on leaked company communications on European tax strategy.
“The conclusion of the investigative report is that no advantaging of Uber took place,” the document sent to parliament on Tuesday said.
“Whatever Uber thought or hoped it would achieve in terms of special fiscal treatment did not succeed.”
An Uber spokesperson on Wednesday said the company was looking at the findings before responding. Subsidiary Uber International BV has around 1,000 employees in Amsterdam.
The Dutch government has sought to improve its reputation as an enabler of tax avoidance by multinationals after criticism from other governments and tax fairness groups.
Dutch tax authorities do not reveal information about how they treat individual companies and parts of the findings were redacted.
In one redacted passage, the review said that pressure from Uber and the Dutch government’s own agency tasked with attracting foreign investment “was resisted in an effective way” by the Dutch tax office.
(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Nick Macfie)
