Uber - the Silicon Valley technology giant with a market valuation of over $US60 billion - paid just over $403,000 tax in Australia over a three-year period. 
Uber's response to questions it took on notice at the Senate inquiry into corporate tax avoidance, obtained by Fairfax Media, confirm the company pays tax on fraction of its local earnings. Its director of public policy Brad Kitschke, who was unable to answer questions about its tax bill at the   November public hearing, has now come back with the figures.
The amount of corporate tax Uber paid in Australia has only slightly increased from $19,387 in 2013, to $134,387 in 2014, and then $249,280 in 2015.
Its financial accounts lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission late last year show the popular ride-sharing service earned $804,399 in revenue in 2013.
But even its local revenue does not paint the full picture.
Uber, which employs about 20,000 drivers across Australia, only counts 75 per cent of each transaction locally. The rest - 25 per cent of each transaction in Australia - is routed through the Netherlands.
Uber argues its Australian operations merely provide support services to its parent company in the Netherlands.
The Australian Taxation Office is looking at the tax paid by Uber, in particular whether significant economic activity is taking place in Australia that should be taxed.
Mr Kitschke said in his latest response to the inquiry, "Uber is a private, unlisted company still in the early investment stage and so unlike listed companies does not provide detailed public accounts".
"We are not yet a profitable company. We are a young business investing heavily to bring the service to more people."
He said Uber gave ordinary Australians a chance to earn additional income. "More than 20,000 people benefit from the economic opportunities of partnering with Uber in Australia," he said. "The lion's share of the revenue generated - the cost of the trip - goes to the driver-partner and stays local. Of every dollar spent by a rider, at least 75 per cent of the fare is kept by the partner, contributing to the prosperity of her or his local community, many of which are areas of high unemployment."
Mr Kitschke said Uber was "building a large local presence in Australia and by the middle of this year will be a significant local employer". He said the company paid $1.25 million in payroll tax in 2015 (up from $461,745 in 2014, and $144,259 in 2013).