For GST purposes, the word taxi means a car (vehicle) made available for public hire that is used to transport passengers for fares.

State and territory laws regulating transportation of passengers contain specific definitions of the term taxi. It is possible for a vehicle to be a taxi for GST purposes, but not for state and territory regulatory purposes.

This information clarifies how the tax laws ATO administer apply to ride-sourcing.

ATO express no view about whether ride-sourcing vehicles are taxis within the state and territory specific definitions, or on the legality of ride-sourcing arrangements.

What is ride-sourcing?

Ride-sourcing is an ongoing arrangement where:

• you (a driver) make a car available for public hire
• a passenger uses, for example, a website or smart phone app provided by a third party (facilitator) to request a ride
• you use the car to transport the passenger for payment (a fare) with a view to profit.

Ride-sourcing arrangements can be enabled by a technology platform maintained by a third-party facilitator. Typically, a website or mobile device application is used to facilitate a transaction between a driver and a passenger.

This may not be applicable if:

• non-commercial car-pooling arrangements where passengers contribute petrol money or other arrangements where there is no view to profit
• car sharing arrangements where multiple users have access to a car which they use to drive themselves from one location to another
• arrangements that use vehicles other than cars, for example motorized tricycles
• arrangements where a car is used only to transport passengers for a particular purpose, for example a wedding or a funeral procession, and which is not made available more generally to transport members of the public from one place to another.

For more information on Etax, Mytax and online tax return, please contact us at 1300 698 297 or you can email us at info@mytaxrefundtoday.com.au