Uber and Juneau are trying to get their relationship off the ground, and it’s off to a confusing start.
The ride-sharing company began operation last week in the city, but has not yet registered to pay sales tax. Uber (and Lyft, which has also not registered for sales tax) and the city are examining exactly how the process works.
Any business operating in the City and Borough of Juneau is required to register to pay sales tax before it opens for business, according to the CBJ Sales Tax Guidelines. Uber officials, however, believe that the individual drivers (who are independent contractors) must register, not the company itself.
City officials have been examining the state laws and as of Monday afternoon believed that individual drivers must register, but that the ride-sharing companies must at least play a role in the sales tax process. Uber and Lyft need to at least facilitate the tax process with their drivers, CBJ Finance Director Bob Bartholomew said.
Though Bartholomew would prefer Uber to have done this earlier, he said it’s not unique for companies to delay registering.
“It’s not usual that people haven’t registered with us, but it happens,” Bartholomew said. “It’s certainly not rare.”
Bartholomew said the city is currently in talks with Uber to figure the situation out. There’s no penalty for registering late, he said.
This comes after the city was hesitant to allow Uber to operate in the first place. City officials filed multiple public complaints about the bill that allowed ride-sharing companies to operate in Alaska, saying that there wasn’t enough local control involved in the bill.
The city is expected to release more details Tuesday about how the process will work, Bartholomew said.
