New Jersey Pursues Lyft on Taxes, Keeping Pressure on Gig Model

New Jersey regulators are seeking to penalize Lyft, Inc. for labeling its workers as independent contractors, arguing that, like its chief rival Uber Technologies Inc., the ride-hailing giant owes millions of dollars in employment-related taxes.

Lyft owes roughly $16 million in unemployment and disability taxes that include back pay and interest, according to internal documents from the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development obtained by Bloomberg Law.

That’s a fraction of the $650 million bill the state hit Uber with last year after an audit, but the principle is the same: that New Jersey’s worker classification standard ...