New Jersey demanded back taxes from the ride-hailing company, claiming it misclassified drivers as independent contractors.

Uber has agreed to pay New Jersey $100 million in back taxes after the state said the ride-hailing company had misclassified its drivers as independent contractors.

An audit by the state’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development had found that Uber and a subsidiary, Raiser, owed four years of back taxes because they had classified drivers in the state as contractors rather than employees. On Monday, the department announced that Uber had paid the taxes with interest.

“Our efforts to combat worker misclassification in New Jersey are continuing to move forward,” Robert Asaro-Angelo, the department’s commissioner, said in an interview. “This shows that these workers in New Jersey are presumed to be employees. No matter what a company’s business model or what their technology is, workers have rights.”

The settlement would appear to be a retreat from the ride-hailing company’s repeated assertion that its drivers should not be classified as employees. Uber and other gig companies have for several years aggressively campaigned against efforts by lawmakers and the courts to classify their drivers as employees. But an Uber spokeswoman said in a statement that the company’s stance had not changed.

“Drivers in New Jersey and nationally are independent contractors who work when and where they want — an overwhelming amount do this kind of work because they...

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