Uncovering Taxation And Protection Disparities Affecting Independent Online Motorcycle Taxi Partners

General Background The expansion of app-based transportation businesses has fundamentally altered the structure of legal relationships between service providers and platform operators. Specific Background Although Grab driver-partners are formally designated as independent partners, their working conditions exhibit essential elements of employment, including work provision, remuneration, and algorithmic subordination. Knowledge Gap Current literature extensively debates the employment classification of digital platform workers but largely overlooks the specific intersection between the tax obligations imposed on drivers as independent taxpayers and their corresponding lack of employment protections. Aims This study analyzes the legal status of driver-partners under Indonesian labor law and investigates the protection challenges concerning their mandatory income tax withholdings. Results Normative legal analysis reveals that while drivers endure algorithmic subordination without employment benefits, they are subjected to mandatory tax deductions of 5% (with a Taxpayer Identification Number) or 6% (without a Taxpayer Identification Number) often lacking verifiable proof of remittance to the state. Novelty This research specifically evaluates the distributive injustice occurring when vulnerable gig workers bear state fiscal burdens without receiving corresponding labor or social security protections. Implications Policymakers must enact specific legislation governing digital platform relationships that mandates transparent tax withholding procedures, provides verifiable transaction records, and integrates fiscal obligations with fundamental labor protections. Highlights Partnership arrangements in digital platforms disguise actual employment relationships characterized by algorithmic subordination. Mandatory tax deductions often lack verifiable proof of remittance, leaving drivers economically disadvantaged. Current regulatory frameworks create distributive injustice by imposing fiscal burdens without matching labor protections.