Taxing the Gig Economy: Challenges for Building a Coherent Framework

The expansion of the gig economy has exposed significant gaps in the tax treatment of platform-mediated work. Although recent OECD and EU measures – notably DAC7 and Directive (EU) 2024/2831 – enhance transparency and clarify certain aspects of platform work, major inconsistencies persist in the classification of workers and the allocation of taxing rights. The author, in this article, aims to evaluate whether these current international and EU initiatives can lead to a more coherent and reliable tax framework. Focusing on worker status, reporting mechanisms and cross-border implications, the contribution suggests that extending certain labour law developments to taxation, and adopting a substance-over-form approach, could address some of the sector’s unresolved challenges.