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Maugham: "We are in a position to commence proceedings against Uber."
As you will have noticed we have now hit the initial fundraising target. This means we are in a position to commence proceedings against Uber. The legislation gives Uber a period of time to provide us with a VAT receipt - until the middle of this month - and this means we can't sue it until that period of time has run out. But we will not drag our heels. Last week - even before the fundraising target was hit - I asked the barrister team to start drafting the claim again Uber and I hope and expect we will be in a position to start proceedings against them in the High Court before the end of the month. Some people have asked why the funding target has been raised. If you read the original listing it explains that it is very difficult to work out how much a case like this will cost and it points out that £75k is unlikely to be enough. I also said this on twitter a number of times whilst we were raising the £75k. And although £75k is a lot of money, remember, the case could well be worth billions of pounds to Uber. Because the barristers and solicitors are working at low rates, I think £75k will take us most but not all of the way. If we don't hit the raised target I am likely to need to seek more crowdfunding later on. But we will still take the initial steps. Indeed, I cannot absolutely rule out the possibility that we will need to raise more money even if we do hit the raised target. But I will try very hard to avoid that possibility. Yes, I could have asked for more money to start with - but sometimes people like to see how you spend the money they've given you before they give you more. And if you ask for too high a target you run the risk that you won't hit it and you won't be able to do anything. So I exercised my judgment. In the meantime, you should make sure that your MP understands your frustration at the fact that it is you who is having to pay to challenge Uber's tax avoidance. You should ask him or her why HMRC isn't doing it. Thanks, again, for your support. I know the money you pledged was hard earned.
