# Is your “wages/salary” Greater than $0 ?



## MiamiUberGuy5 (Feb 20, 2019)

I’m a full time uber driver.

I filed for unemployment in Florida and was deemed Ineligible because apparently my tax filing showed I “earned $0 in wages in 2019.”

I’m leaning toward my tax person Doing my taxes incorrectly. My tax guy put $0 in wages/salary listed in my taxes.

technically do we have a wages/salary in our taxes as full time uber drivers ? Do you guys also put $0 in wages/salary


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## Stevie The magic Unicorn (Apr 3, 2018)

MiamiUberGuy5 said:


> I'm a full time uber driver.
> 
> I filed for unemployment in Florida and was deemed Ineligible because apparently my tax filing showed I "earned $0 in wages in 2019."
> 
> ...


thafs accurate given..

1. your in Florida, Florida rates are the worst in the nation.
2. After expenses by IRS standards you lost money. My my math you Need somewhere in the neighborhood of 81% of your miles paid to break even on paper. That's 4 paid miles for every 5 driven. Reality is that your closer to 1 mile paid per 3 miles driven.

So what is REALLY on your taxes is Probobly...

$40,000 In gross revenue and $50-55,000 in write offs. Meaning you lost money on paper.

As a taxi driver I had $8,000 in taxable profit on 15,000 in gross revenue. I had a profit driving a cab by IRS standards. I also charge in the neighborhood of 500% more than what UberX drivers get in Orlando (without a surge).

In order to "make money" by IRS standards and thus be over $0.00 you would need to make over $57.50 per 100 miles driven while working.

Only what is above and beyond the $57.50 is taxable by IRS standards. Anything below $57.50 is zero by IRS standards.

And Florida unemployment counts it by IRS standards. Not Uber's BS or whatever insane metric your using for your expenses such as pretending your only expense is gasoline.


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## Trafficat (Dec 19, 2016)

On the 1040 there is a blank for Wages and Tips reported on a W2 (Line 1 for 2019) and there is another blank for self-employment earning and other income (Line 7A for 2019). Even if you reported self-employment earnings, it is possible your Wages and Tips line could be $0 if you did not get any W2.


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## Launchpad McQuack (Jan 8, 2019)

Trafficat said:


> Even if you reported self-employment earnings, it is possible your Wages and Tips line could be $0 if you did not get any W2.


If all of your income comes from driving Uber, then your Wages and Tips line _*will*_ be $0. The only way you will have an amount on the Wages and Tips line is if you had a job where you worked as an employee.


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## Daisey77 (Jan 13, 2016)

Wages and tips are from W-2 jobs not 1099 jobs. Did you apply for Pua or for regular State UI?


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## Stevie The magic Unicorn (Apr 3, 2018)

Florida won't put you in for the PUA if your at zero income.


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## Daisey77 (Jan 13, 2016)

Stevie The magic Unicorn said:


> Florida won't put you in for the PUA if your at zero income.


Oh that sucks! Can you file regular unemployment or you can't file anything? I'm assuming he had a W-2 job during the qualifying period. Since he had wages. Do they only go off your income or do other things come into play such as W2 jobs


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## MiamiUberGuy5 (Feb 20, 2019)

Daisey77 said:


> Wages and tips are from W-2 jobs not 1099 jobs. Did you apply for Pua or for regular State UI?


Good question. Not sure

Thought it was pua



Daisey77 said:


> Oh that sucks! Can you file regular unemployment or you can't file anything? I'm assuming he had a W-2 job during the qualifying period. Since he had wages. Do they only go off your income or do other things come into play such as W2 jobs


No I'm a fulltime driver. I'm screwed lol


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## oldfart (Dec 22, 2017)

I am also a full time Uber driver in Florida 

I knew that we independent contractors would not normally qualify for unemployment income because we are not employees and no unemployment insurance premiums have been paid into the system on our behalf. But I also knew that the Cares act meant to include us. So I applied

I filed for unemployment in Florida sometime in April. One question on the original application had to do with wages from 2019 and I put down what I had received from Uber in 2019 less my actual expenses. I did not use the number on my tax return because that number is zero. Then they asked for proof, and of course I didnt have any....so I left that blank... And they turned me down twice before they finally approved me for the minimum.. $125/week. After that I started to receive $125 a week plus the extra $600/week that the federal Cares act provides. 

It wasnt until this week that I finally understood what is happening. I got an email from the state that included this paragraph


"At this time, DEO has determined that you have not earned wages in the new calendar quarter (January 2020 – March 2020) that would make you eligible for state Reemployment Assistance benefits. When you log-in to CONNECT to claim your weeks, you will be prompted to complete a questionnaire regarding your continuing PUA eligibility". 

So I think I get it now.... If I had been paid w-2 wages and then became unemployed I would have been paid unemployment income from the State. but since Im an independent contractor, Im paid unemployment with Federal money

So, no wages is what should be on your application to get paid any unemployment income. 

Where you may be screwed is that the $600 a week will stop at the end of this month unless extended by congress and signed by the president

Good luck


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## Daisey77 (Jan 13, 2016)

oldfart said:


> I am also a full time Uber driver in Florida
> 
> I knew that we independent contractors would not normally qualify for unemployment income because we are not employees and no unemployment insurance premiums have been paid into the system on our behalf. But I also knew that the Cares act meant to include us. So I applied
> 
> ...


Bingo Bango! &#128521; the reason you were probably originally denied was because Florida didn't have the Pua system implemented yet. So it was trying to approve you through the regular state unemployment program. which is set up to deny us. Every self-employed person qualifies. Now if you can prove your wages, you may get more than the set minimum but if you cannot prove your wages or they have no way to verify your wages, you'll get the set minimum. Which is state-specific. However, the cares Act made it mandatory to have a minimum amount set for those of us they could not verify income on.


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