Riccardo Savi/Getty Images Uber used around 50 Dutch shell companies to help reduce its global tax burden, an Australian research group found. Despite earning $5.8 billion in global revenues in 2019, Uber claimed a $4.5 billion loss for tax purposes. One researcher called Uber's alleged scheme "the Champions League of tax avoidance." Uber has been using a complex tax shelter involving around 50 Dutch shell companies to reduce its global tax bill, according to recent research from the Center for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research. In 2019, Uber claimed $4.5 billion in global operating losses (excluding the US and China) for tax purposes — in reality, it brought in $5.8 billion in operating revenue, according to CICTAR, an Australia-based research group.