Uber and AirBnB insist they pay their share of tax in Australia, but have been unable to share any details with a Senate inquiry into corporate tax avoidance.
Senior executives from the two multinational companies said they were in full compliance with Australian tax laws but did not come clean when asked for details.
Uber's director of public policy for Oceania region, Brad Kitschke, said he did not know the information off hand but could get back to the committee "in a very short period of time".
"You came to a Senate corporate tax inquiry and didn't work out how much tax you paid last year?" Labor Senator Sam Dastyari asked at the hearing in Sydney on Wednesday.
The ride share company currently has around 15,000 drivers on the road in Australia, but Mr Kitschke argued it was only a technology platform and should not be compared to the taxi industry.
Uber Australia itself does not generate revenue and only provides support services.
The revenue is earned by the parent company based in the Netherlands, which repatriates 75 per cent to pay the drivers.
AirBnB also follows a similar model, with the revenue being generated by its Ireland-based parent company, the inquiry heard.
Its country manager Sam McDonagh said the Australian unit had generated profit last year and paid tax at a 37 per cent rate, but declined to provide details for the same.
The two firms also declined to provide details on their overall cost structure in Australia.
The companies were questioned on their corporate structure through parent companies based in low-tax overseas countries, and whether this helped them avoid paying taxes on a part of their overall revenue.
"The transaction is in Australia, but because of the structure, the revenue has gone to another jurisdiction," Greens Senator Richard Di Natale said.
"From a policy perspective, we need to capture our share of the tax revenue," he said.
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