Taxes for DoorDash, Uber Eats and Instacart drivers
You are running a business out of your car, and your vehicle costs are usually the largest deduction on the return. We will help you count the miles that qualify and document them properly.
Nothing is due today. Personal returns start at $250.
No one withholds tax from your deposits, so the whole bill arrives at once, and you owe self employment tax on top of income tax. Almost everything that lowers it comes down to your vehicle, so what counts as a business mile and how you prove it does most of the work on a delivery return. Copying the mileage figure off an app summary is not the same as keeping a log, and the two often do not match.
What delivery drivers can usually deduct
Ordinary and necessary costs of your work. Rules and dollar limits change year to year, so we confirm every one of these against the current year when we prepare your return.
Business miles you drive while working
Driving to the merchant, driving to the customer, and driving between orders while you are logged in and available are business miles. You either use the IRS standard mileage rate for that year or track your actual vehicle costs, and where the rules let you choose, we compare both.
The drive from your house to the area where you start working is commuting, and commuting is not deductible. Turning the app on in your driveway does not by itself convert that drive into a business mile, so tell us your actual pattern rather than assuming.
Fees the platform keeps out of your pay
Some platforms report your gross customer charges on a Form 1099-K and keep their service fee out of what lands in your bank. Where that happens, the fee the platform retained is a business expense you report against the gross figure.
If your form already shows your net earnings, the fee is out of the number and deducting it again would double count it. Bring the annual statement that shows gross and fees so we can tell which situation you are in.
Actual vehicle costs instead of the mileage rate
The business share of gas, insurance, repairs, oil changes, tires, registration, car washes, and depreciation on the vehicle. This method sometimes beats the mileage rate on an older car with heavy repairs, or on a car that cost a lot up front.
You cannot claim the standard mileage rate and also deduct gas and repairs on top of it. What you do in the first year the car is used in the business also limits what you can switch to later, and on a leased car choosing the mileage rate commits you for the whole lease term.
Car loan interest and lease payments
If you are self employed, the business share of the interest on your car loan is deductible even when you use the standard mileage rate. If you lease, the business share of the lease payment is deductible under the actual cost method.
Only the business use portion counts, in proportion to how much of your driving is for the business. The principal part of a car payment is never a deduction, and you cannot deduct lease payments while also claiming the standard mileage rate on that vehicle.
Parking and tolls while working
Garage parking, meter money, parking at an apartment complex while you run an order up, and tolls on a delivery route. These are deductible in addition to the standard mileage rate rather than folded into it.
Parking tickets and moving violations are never deductible, no matter where you got them. Neither is the toll on your personal drive home.
Hot bags and delivery gear
Insulated hot bags, pizza bags, catering bags, drink carriers, cooler bags for grocery orders, collapsible crates, and the organizers and bungees that keep the load steady in your trunk.
Gear the platform hands you at no charge is not a deduction. You deduct what you actually paid for, so keep the receipt or the card statement line.
Phone, plan, and mounts
The business share of your cell phone bill, plus the phone mount, the dash charger, the power bank in the console, and a second phone bought to run another platform.
You deduct the business use share of the bill, not the whole bill. Write down the percentage you used and how you arrived at it, and note that a phone used strictly for the apps and never personally is fully business.
Bike, scooter, and e-bike delivery
If you deliver on a bike, scooter, or e-bike, the batteries, tires, tubes, chains, brake pads, repairs, lights, and locks are business costs. The bike or scooter itself is equipment, so its cost is recovered through depreciation or an election to expense it rather than deducted as a supply.
The standard mileage rate applies to cars, vans, pickups, and panel trucks, so bike and scooter delivery runs on actual costs. Keep every receipt, because there is no rate to fall back on.
Background checks and work permits
The background check to onboard with a platform, a food handler card where your city or county requires one, and any local health or delivery permit tied to the work.
Costs everyone pays regardless of the work, like renewing your regular driver license, are personal and stay off the return.
Logo gear and required safety equipment
Clothing that carries a platform logo or your own business name, and protective equipment that is specific to the work, such as a high visibility safety vest.
Clothing suitable for everyday wear is not deductible even if you only wear it while delivering. A winter coat, rain jacket, gloves, jeans, and sneakers all fail that test, because the question is whether the item could be worn off the job, not whether you actually wear it off the job.
Health insurance you buy yourself
If you pay for your own health coverage and are not eligible for a plan through an employer or a spouse's employer, the premiums may be deductible as a self employed person. The deduction is limited by the net profit from the business.
This one comes off the front of the return rather than off Schedule C, so it does not reduce your self employment tax. Bring your Form 1095-A if you bought through the marketplace, because the subsidy reconciliation and this deduction interact.
Retirement account you fund yourself
As a self employed person you can contribute to a SEP IRA or a solo 401(k) and deduct the contribution. Depending on the account type and the deadline, some of these can still be opened or funded after the year has closed.
How much you can put in is tied to your net profit from delivering, not to your gross earnings before vehicle costs. If your mileage deduction wipes out most of the profit, the room to contribute shrinks with it.
Delivery driving you do yourself is reported on Schedule C, and that is usually where it belongs while you are the only driver. The S corporation conversation becomes worth having when your profit after vehicle costs is consistently high year after year, or when you have moved past driving yourself into running routes with other drivers, because payroll and a second tax return both carry real cost.
What to bring us
You do not need all of it to start. Send what you have and your checklist shows what is still open.
- Your year end tax forms from every platform you drove for, including any Form 1099-NEC or Form 1099-K, plus the annual earnings and fee statement from the app even when no form was issued
- Your mileage log or an export from your tracking app, showing total miles driven for the year and the business portion
- Odometer readings at the start and end of the year, plus the date you first started using the vehicle for delivery
- Receipts or card statements for gas, repairs, oil changes, tires, insurance, and registration, in case actual costs beat the mileage rate
- Your car loan or lease paperwork showing the interest paid for the year
- Cell phone bills and the cost of any phone, mount, charger, or power bank bought for the work
- Receipts for hot bags, coolers, carriers, and any bike or scooter equipment
- Records of any estimated tax payments you already made during the year, with the dates and amounts
- Form 1095-A if you bought health coverage through the marketplace
- Last year's tax return, if you have it, so we can see which vehicle method was used
What trips people up
Treating the mileage figure on the platform's year end summary as your total business miles.
That figure often covers only miles on active deliveries, so it can leave out the drive to the merchant and the driving between orders. Keep your own log and use it, and treat the platform summary as a cross check rather than the answer.
Claiming the standard mileage rate and also deducting gas, repairs, and insurance.
It is one method or the other for the same vehicle in the same year. We run both where the rules allow a choice and use the one that correctly produces the lower tax. Parking and tolls stay deductible either way.
Skipping the return because no 1099 arrived.
The income is reportable whether or not a form was issued, and platforms only send forms once you cross certain reporting thresholds. Bring the in app earnings summary. Filing also builds the self employment earnings record that Social Security uses, and lenders often ask to see the return.
Setting nothing aside during the year and facing a bill plus an underpayment penalty.
Nothing is withheld from your deposits, and you owe self employment tax on top of income tax. We will set up quarterly estimated payments sized to your expected profit after vehicle costs, not to your gross deposits.
Deducting the meal you eat between orders.
A meal you eat by yourself while working is a personal expense, and there is no delivery exception for it. The vehicle deduction is where the real money is on this return, and it is the one worth documenting well.
What it costs
Our published list, the same one everyone sees. Prices marked "from" are starting points, and your exact number is confirmed in writing before any work begins.
$0 is due today. You pay when you sign, or you can have your fee come out of your refund, so it can be $0 out of pocket.
Questions we get from your trade
I drove for three apps. Do I file three returns?+
No. One return, and usually one Schedule C, because it is all the same delivery business. We combine the earnings from every platform and take your mileage and expenses against the total. Bring the year end summary from each app so nothing is left out.
I never got a 1099. Do I still have to report it?+
Yes. Platforms only issue forms once you cross certain reporting thresholds, and those thresholds have changed over the years. Your obligation to report what you earned does not depend on whether a form arrived. Pull the earnings summary from inside the app and bring it in.
How do I prove my miles if I did not track them?+
It is harder, and sometimes we cannot support the whole number. We can work from your delivery history in the apps, your odometer readings, your bank and fuel records, and your usual working area to build a reasonable reconstruction. It will not be as strong as a log kept at the time. Start logging now, because this year is still in front of you.
Can I deduct the drive from my house to where I start?+
Generally no, that is commuting. What can change the answer is a home office that qualifies as your principal place of business and is used regularly and exclusively for the business, which can make trips from home business miles. That exclusive use test is strict, a corner of the living room does not meet it, and it rarely fits delivery work, so we would need to look at your specific setup before relying on it.
Why do I owe when I did not earn that much?+
Because nothing was withheld and self employment tax applies on top of income tax, so profit carries both. That is why the vehicle deduction matters so much for delivery work. It reduces the profit that both taxes are figured on.
Should I form an LLC or an S-corp?+
Usually not right away. A single member LLC changes your liability picture but by default does not change your federal tax filing, since you still report on Schedule C. An S corporation starts to make sense at a level of steady profit where the payroll cost and the extra return are worth it. We will look at your actual numbers and tell you honestly whether you are there yet.
Let us take the tax part off your plate.
Tell us what you need and see your price. A real person on your team replies within one business day.