Operation Express Delivery taking place in Lisbon, Setúbal, Coimbra, Aveiro and Braga
Authorities suspect the Portuguese State has been short-changed by around €28 million in VAT – and possibly as much as €7.5 million in Social Security contributions – due to illegalities committed by Uber home meal delivery companies, which are being searched today across the country by teams representing the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Social Security and the AT tax authority.
Says Lusa, “the facts under investigation include several companies related to the provision of services, through a digital home meal delivery platform, and their accounting offices”.
The understanding is that a ‘fraudulent scheme’ supported by a false invoicing circuit has essentially ‘misappropriated large amounts of VAT.
There are also suspicions that in ‘concealing the workers who carry out delivery services from Social Security’, there will have been ‘non-payment of contributions’.
For now, the searches are being/ have been led by the Central Department of Investigation and Criminal Action (DCIAP), which is participating in the operation with the presence of four public prosecutors, a mixed team from the ISS Inspection Department (DF), the AT Tax and Customs Inspection and the Fraud Investigation and Special Actions Services Directorate (DSIFAE), and operational support from the GNR Tax Action Unit.
“Express Delivery” is taking place in the districts of Lisbon, Setúbal, Coimbra, Aveiro and Braga, with searches being carried out by 39 inspectors from the Social Security Institute, around 80 tax and customs inspectors and 55 agents from the GNR’s Tax Action Unit.
News of this operation was reported by CNN Portugal, which said that access to the floor where the company’s servers are located has been closed off to employees.
An official source for Uber meantime has confirmed that searches are taking place in their offices, but that Uber is not the target of this investigation: the targets being the “several companies” cited by a statement by the Social Security Institute, that “provide services”, through Uber’s digital meals delivery platform.
Source material: LUSA/ SIC Notícias
