Uber’s reputation has taken yet another knock after it was revealed that the company paid just £22,134 corporation tax in the UK last year despite making a £866,302 profit here.
The figure sounds small enough on its own but compare that to the average amount paid in tax by black cab drivers in London and things look even worse.
The Huffington Post UK spoke to accountancy firm Martin Cordell And Co., which specialises in the taxi trade, who say the average driver pays around £5,000 in tax - although some pay up to £12,000.
Uber paid just £22,134 corporation tax in the UK last year
This means it would take just five taxi drivers to cover Uber’s entire corporation tax bill.
An Uber spokesman denied the firm had used any loopholes and insisted it had paid "every penny of tax that is due". He added that the firm was a "significant net contributor" to the economy.
He said: ”With corporation tax, past losses offset current and future profits - as is the case with Uber which made losses in the UK in previous years.
"This is an accounting principle to encourage investment that dates back to Benjamin Disraeli. It is not a loophole.
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"We are a young company - only three years old in the UK – that is investing heavily.
"We are a significant net contributor to the local economy everywhere we go, creating new opportunities for thousands of professional drivers.
"The lion's share of every fare stays local, as it remains with the drivers who use Uber. And unlike the cash-in-hand past of this industry, we only take card payments so every fare is traceable and transparent."
The news comes just a week after Facebook revealed it paid just £4,327 corporation tax in the UK in 2014.
The revelation caused outrage, particularly given that the average UK worker pays £3,180 in income tax and £2,213 in national insurance payments, according to the Independent.
A string of multinational firms, including Starbucks and Amazon, have been criticised in recent months for taking steps to legally avoid corporation tax.