Subordination vs. Independence: favorable ruling against BPS.
The taxpayer company timely filed the corresponding administrative appeals and appeared before the TCA requesting the annulment of the act. Nearly four years later, the aforementioned Court ruled in favor of our client, ending the litigation against BPS. It has been resolved that there was no labor relationship of dependence between the contractors and the plaintiff.
Dr. Mariana Casella (partner of the Firm), who represented the plaintiff company, highlighted that this is a ruling of special interest and with a solid argumentative approach based on the evidence presented in the lawsuit. The ruling indicates that, in doubtful cases where it is complex to determine whether there are autonomous or dependent relationships, the evidence by indications becomes particularly relevant, and in this case, the burden of proving the alleged hidden dependence fell on the defendant Entity, which had to provide clear and conclusive evidence to demonstrate that the legal forms adopted did not match reality.
In the Tribunal's opinion, BPS failed to prove the actual existence of dependent relationships, basing its reasoning on indications that did not have sufficient convictive efficacy. The weight of the \"counter-evidence\" (the evidence presented by the plaintiff company) significantly unbalanced the reasoning built by the Administration without any solid basis. As the hidden dependency relationships attributed to the plaintiff were not convincingly proven, the challenged determination act became null and void.
Montevideo, June 9, 2020.
