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My point is that Uber did not have to pay taxes, and their obligation to collect taxes was unclear. Under the new law they have the collect taxes. Under the old law, it was plausible that they didn't.
The main takeaway is that most aspects of the legal system, including definitions for commonly accepted terms, are not actually clear.
Especially your argument on intents of taxes. I don't believe that brand-name and infrastructure alone make an employee out of an independent contractor. Also, based on your brandname and infrastructure arguement, should people who sell handicrafts on Etsy or Amazon be classified as employees of Amazon and be forced to pay GST on all sales?