How Uber Won Access to World Leaders, Deceived Investigators and Exploited Violence Against Its Drivers…

by Scilla Alecci at ICIJ

In early 2015, European regulators were closing in on Apple, Amazon and Google, accusing the U.S. tech titans of unfair competition and abuse of sweetheart tax deals.

Executives at Uber Technologies Inc. took notice; they feared that their company could be next, newly leaked documents show. As it expanded its footprint around the globe, the ride-hailing giant had devised ways to save millions of dollars in taxes by routing profits through Bermuda and other tax havens.

“Our corporate tax structure is — in pure European political terms — the Achilles heel of the company,” Mark MacGann, Uber’s chief lobbyist in Europe at the time, wrote to the company’s tax department chief.

As scrutiny ramped up, the leaked documents show, Uber hit on a brazen strategy to steer attention away from its tax liabilities: help authorities collect taxes from its drivers instead.

In an email to other managers…