Canada to start treating Uber as a taxi company, for tax purposes.

In the framework of the country’s new national budget, Canadian government plans to amend its Excise Tax Act and redefine ride-sharing firms as taxi companies. This measure would affect providers of ride-sharing services, such as Uber, ending the tax advantages that they have over traditional taxi companies. The proposed amendments would force Uber to collect the goods and services tax of every ride provided (similar to taxi operators), which could result in higher fares for Uber customers in Canada. UPDATE: Uber Canada is asking the Canadian government to retain the tax advantage, and expand it to taxi services.