Uber paying drivers does not make the drivers employees. When I have worked as a software developer as a 1099 contractor and someone bought the resulting software, does that mean that the customer who bought the software was paying me? Would the payment for the software be counted as revenue for the company?
When I was a part time fitness instructor, I taught at corporate gyms where the employees had free memberships. I got a 1099 every year from the gym. Did the employees pay me? Would that be an expense of the corporation?
That may be how Uber wants to phrase it, but I'm pretty sure the thing that shows up on my CC statement is Uber, not the driver's name... IE, if they're claiming that, it's a legal fiction. Whether that legal fiction would stand in court is up to the court.
> I'm pretty sure the thing that shows up on my CC statement is Uber, not the driver's name
That just means that Uber is acting as a payment processor for the driver. If you buy an app or make an in-app purchase in the Google Play Store then Google's name appears on your statement; that doesn't make the app publisher Google's employee. The same goes for non-app vendors using Google Pay or similar services such as PayPal. The point of Uber is to connect riders with drivers and provide standard systems for payment and review—the actual transportation is up to the users.
When I was a part time fitness instructor, I taught at corporate gyms where the employees had free memberships. I got a 1099 every year from the gym. Did the employees pay me? Would that be an expense of the corporation?