# Daimler and BMW-backed Kapten rides into London with anti-Uber ad campaign



## Hugh G (Sep 22, 2016)

*Daimler and BMW-backed Kapten rides into London with anti-Uber ad campaign*


Steve O'Hear@sohear / 9 hours ago
https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/16/kapten-rides-into-london









Kapten, the French ride-hailing app backed by Daimler and BMW, has today launched in London, coupled with a feisty ad campaign taking a swipe at Uber's tax arrangements.

It follows Kapten  (formerly called "Chauffeur Prive") obtaining a license from TfL, London's transport regulator, to operate its private-hire vehicle (PHV) service in the U.K. capital city. The company first launched in France in 2012, growing quickly in Paris, and has since expanded to Lisbon and Geneva.
Specifically, Kapten's new billboard ad campaign calls out Uber  for avoiding local sales tax: "Others avoid paying VAT in the UK - that's not uber cool." In contrast, Kapten says it pay taxes locally in every market in which it operates. The ad then goes on to tell Londoners that using Kapten "might just be your best decision today."

In a press release driving home the point, Kapten notes that Uber has faced criticism in the U.K. for paying little tax to the U.K. government and avoiding VAT on top of its service fee due to the U.S. company's Dutch tax location.

"Uber had an estimated £1bn of ride bookings in the U.K. in 2018. If 20 percent VAT was added to its 25 percent commission, the U.K. Exchequer would get an additional £50m per year," says Kapten.

Meanwhile, Kapten's newly launched London service should be available in zones 1 to 5 as of today. The ride-hailing app is also launching with a 50%-off offer on rides. After launch, Kapten claims that its low pricing will still mean fares are on average 20% cheaper than competitors.

"Trips in the congestion charge zone will be at least £2 cheaper than Uber due to congestion and clean-air fees," says the French company, promising to cover the congestion charge on behalf of its drivers for the rest of 2019.

Adds Mariusz Zabrocki, London general manager of Kapten, in a statement: "There has been one dominant, over-confident ride-hailing player in London and it's time to shake things up. We believe London's private-hire drivers, commuters and residents deserve better. Each time a Londoner takes an Uber ride, 60p is lost that could finance the NHS, schools and other parts of the U.K." economy.


----------



## ST DYMPHNA son (Aug 10, 2017)

...uber is a "dead man walking" and deserving so...


----------



## RoboRider (Aug 26, 2018)

Not sure about the VAT argument though ... if it is anything like how GST works anything the get from Uber would just be an offset against the VAT from the driver so it would be a zero sum game. Avoiding company tax is definitely an issue there and here


----------



## Jack Malarkey (Jan 11, 2016)

RoboRider said:


> Not sure about the VAT argument though ... if it is anything like how GST works anything the get from Uber would just be an offset against the VAT from the driver so it would be a zero sum game. Avoiding company tax is definitely an issue there and here


Drivers in the United Kingdom are typically not subject to VAT as the threshold there is very high and there's no provision making drivers pay VAT from the first pound.

See this thread in the London forum: https://uberpeople.net/threads/uk-g...ration-threshold-pending-consultation.220884/.

See also this other London thread: https://uberpeople.net/threads/australian-gst-vat-case-on-uber-travel.142511/.

I strongly suspect that the (unstated) reason that Uber in Australia moved from using a foreign entity to using an Australian entity (thereby bringing themselves within the Australian GST net) was because it needed to restructure to avoid a liability under the diverted profits tax: see https://www.ato.gov.au/general/new-...-businesses/diverted-profits-tax/?=redirected.


----------



## Tom Oldman (Feb 2, 2019)

Hugh G said:


> *Daimler and BMW-backed Kapten rides into London with anti-Uber ad campaign*
> 
> 
> Steve O'Hear@sohear / 9 hours ago
> ...


I think Dara's face just got longer.


----------



## bistander (May 15, 2019)

And you think the likes of BMW will give drivers a fair go?
Ask any of their customers.


----------

