Uber has operated in Viet Nam since June 2014. Its service is available only in Ha Noi and HCM City. — Photo petrotimes.vn

HCM CITY (Biz Hub) — The HCM City tax department has told Uber that it must declare and pay taxes as the ride-sharing service provider has consistently refused to do so, according to a tax official.

The taxi ride-sharing service Uber will face possible fines for tardiness in tax declarations and payments, a representative of the city's tax department said.

Uber operates via mobile devices and mostly receives payment via cards, making it more difficult to monitor, the city said.

Uber has about 4,000 taxis operating in HCM City. Its parent company is located in the Netherlands, Uber B.V., according to the Transport Department.

Meanwhile, the Vietnamese unit of Uber has registered only as a marketing company.

Thus, Uber has paid only taxes for marketing fees it receives from the Amsterdam-based Uber B.V. .

The parent firm pays Uber Viet Nam to take care of such tasks as customer management and question and answer period.

"The transportation activity is managed by Uber in the Netherlands," he said.

Uber has earned VND1 billion (US$44,643) worth of profit in HCM City, according to the Department of Transport.

The HCM City tax department has repeatedly sent documents to Uber to fulfill their tax-paying duty but they have never replied, according to the tax official.

The tax department said that HCM City was not the first foreign market Uber had entered, and that the company had experience in many markets.

The official said the tax department was willing to support Uber to resolve any problems in completing tax procedures.

But if the company remains quiet, the city plans to take the next step to force them to pay tax, he said.

Uber has operated in Viet Nam since June 2014. Its service is available only in Ha Noi and HCM City.

Riders book a ride via the Uber app, with the fare automatically billed to their credit card at the end of the ride. — VNS