# Stop the madness over the .54 cents a mile



## osii (Aug 21, 2014)

I’ve been doing this full time for 2 years now. I keep seeing references to 54 cents a mile expenses. This is complete bullshit and I think it’s a bunch of taxi drivers trolling the forum.


First of all, that rate applies to everything from a Vespa to a Mack Truck.


Second, if you drive 50,000 miles a year, that’s a new $25,000 car every year. Is anyone actually replacing their brand new $25k car every year? At 50k miles, you never need to replace anything on a new car so you’re going to have ZERO maintenance and if you buy a service plan, no expenses for most at fault repairs.


Third, just do the math! Let’s say you do this full time and you have a brain and buy a $13,000 brand new car with a warranty and a service plan ($1500). You’re in this for $14,500. Let’s assume you drive 1000 miles a week and make $750 on average. Over three years and 150,000 miles, let’s also assume you buy three sets of tires ($1200), 30 $50 Royal Purple oil changes ($1,500), replace the front brakes and rotors 3 times ($300), and replace the suspension once ($1,000). So $18,500 is your gross cost of buying an operating this vehicle over three years. 


Now subtract what it will be worth in three years with 150k miles. Let’s call that $3,500. So now you are working with a figure of $5,000 a year for 50,000 miles. That’s 10 cents a miles boys and girls.


Now the only thing a nitpicker can add to that is insurance and registration which runs about $1,500 a year. Add 3 cents.


Finally, add gas. 30mpg @ $2.50/gallon = 8.3 cents a mile.


So pushing it I can get to almost $.22.


What have I left out? Car washes, Water, Candy, Replacing all my aux and power cords twice a year. I clean my interiors myself and get a discount on gas at the exterior car wash. I provide nothing for pax anymore because it’s not worth it and they just break everything and leave a mess. My tip’s cover the $3 car washes twice a week.


Now you guys who are driving a POS and doing all your own work, are probably saving two to three thousand a year. But for myself, I can’t do anything past an oil change or fixing a bulb, so getting a new car works better for me.


If you’re driving an SUV, you can get to $.54/mile. But SUV drivers make 3 times what an X driver makes


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## ber fine print (May 22, 2015)

what have you left out? you have signed agreements with uber and lyft that you are totally responsible for all liability in the event of an accident. your insurance co. will give you the bad news that they won`t pay anything and uber and lyft will follow prepare to hire a good attorney


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## Ben105 (Feb 27, 2016)

So what are you trying to say? The $.54 per mile is the legal IRS deduction for using your car for commercial purposes.


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## osii (Aug 21, 2014)

ber fine print said:


> what have you left out? you have signed agreements with uber and lyft that you are totally responsible for all liability in the event of an accident. your insurance co. will give you the bad news that they won`t pay anything and uber and lyft will follow prepare to hire a good attorney


Taxi or Limo Driver?


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## osii (Aug 21, 2014)

Ben105 said:


> So what are you trying to say? The $.54 per mile is the legal IRS deduction for using your car for commercial purposes.


It is an option. You can take the $.54/mile, or, actual expenses whichever is higher.


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## osii (Aug 21, 2014)

Let's say you drive a $1,000,000 tour bus for Justin Beiber. Well your expenses and actual depreciation are going to be way more than $.54/mile.


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## Ben105 (Feb 27, 2016)

osii said:


> It is an option. You can take the $.54/mile, or, actual expenses whichever is higher.


I know this. I always calculate both and take the higher of the two, but your point is not obvious in your post. From your post, you're implying that for most, the $.54 per mile is more than it costs to operate your vehicle so you should claim that. Is that what you're trying to say?


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## osii (Aug 21, 2014)

Ben105 said:


> I know this. I always calculate both and take the higher of the two, but your point is not obvious in your post. From your post, you're implying that for most, the $.54 per mile is more than it costs to operate your vehicle so you should claim that. Is that what you're trying to say?


yes, in a 4pax x vehicle


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## Simon (Jan 4, 2015)

osii said:


> I've been doing this full time for 2 years now. I keep seeing references to 54 cents a mile expenses. This is complete bullshit and I think it's a bunch of taxi drivers trolling the forum.
> 
> First of all, that rate applies to everything from a Vespa to a Mack Truck.
> 
> ...


Truth


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## EcoboostMKS (Nov 6, 2015)

Ben105 said:


> I know this. I always calculate both and take the higher of the two, but your point is not obvious in your post. From your post, you're implying that for most, the $.54 per mile is more than it costs to operate your vehicle so you should claim that. Is that what you're trying to say?


You can't go back and forth. Once you've chosen one way to deduct expenses, you're stuck doing it that way for the future.


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## ChortlingCrison (Mar 30, 2016)

Seems to me there was a 12 page thread about this topic. This madness is turning into sadness.


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## osii (Aug 21, 2014)

Yeah, I know. But I keep seeing references to it in other threads and it's maddening


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## Ubernic (Apr 24, 2016)

You aren't getting it when we ask "What are you trying to say?"

You are making a point that it costs much less than $0.54/mile to operate. You are upset, but what about? Are you upset that people are saying $0.54 is not enough? What is the point of this post? Who is it that you are upset at in regards to the $0.54/mile? What are they saying that upsets you? What is the madness?


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## LAuberX (Jun 3, 2014)

correct. It does cost less than .54 cents per mile to operate MOST Uber X cars....
the problem is DEAD MILES that equal or exceed PAID miles.
If you drive 2.2 miles for each PAID mile (@.64-.68 each) even with a "per mile cost" of .30 you LOSE money with Uber.


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## Ben105 (Feb 27, 2016)

You don't have to use the same way every year. Just like with other deductions. Each year you file taxes you decide which is better, the flat deduction or itemized. It's the same thing with car mileage.


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## osii (Aug 21, 2014)

LAuberX said:


> correct. It does cost less than .54 cents per mile to operate MOST Uber X cars....
> the problem is DEAD MILES that equal or exceed PAID miles.
> If you drive 2.2 miles for each PAID mile (@.64-.68 each) even with a "per mile cost" of .30 you LOSE money with Uber.


JFC, I'm including "dead" miles in those numbers. You drive 1000 miles with a pax in your car, you're making $1,200 a week.

My numbers are an average. Some drive more or less, some make more or less. But I've been doing this long enough to know how the numbers run. Is anyone here really dropping $50 on RP oil changes? Is anyone here actually paying $100 for pads and rotors? Is anyone here really spending $100 a tire?

Some guys bust ass and make $2k a week driving X. You think they're buying a new car every 15 weeks?


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## rolyasmatt (Apr 25, 2016)

We do realize it's a tax deduction... not cash back in your pocket. Big difference.

It helps lower your tax liability, not give your 25k cash.


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## uberdriverfornow (Jan 10, 2016)

Clearly the OP doesn't understand what a deduction is. It doesn't equate to money.


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## shiftydrake (Dec 12, 2015)

And something else that it definitely IS NOT is this..........I have seen many people deduct .54 from their pay for each mile...each trip...and they claim wear and tear......why? That is only a deduction on your taxes...which apparently you already took taxes out of your trip pay...again why?...... & why do both? Taxes I can see I guess somewhat but if you do your taxes correctly you never have to pay taxes on whatever is on your 1099 I got a 1099 last year for 12k for my credit cards ........................after ALL my deuctions....
.54 per mile, uniform, my weekly lease, and part of my house and cell phone I wrote off over $36 k. In expenses..........was able to get all my wifes taxes back for fed. and for state


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## Activist1 (May 15, 2016)

I think the 54 cents a mile is not country wide......


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## Oscar Levant (Aug 15, 2014)

ber fine print said:


> what have you left out? you have signed agreements with uber and lyft that you are totally responsible for all liability in the event of an accident. your insurance co. will give you the bad news that they won`t pay anything and uber and lyft will follow prepare to hire a good attorney


Not liability for passenger injury. Right? If not, show me the fine print, 'cause i don't believe it. It's hard for me to imagine any PUC allowing such a thing. That being said, the driver is responsible for his or her medical expenses and car damage. This is why I drive SUV, I'm covered by worker's comp and the vehicle has commercial insurance. Totally covered.


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## rtaatl (Jul 3, 2014)

rolyasmatt said:


> We do realize it's a tax deduction... not cash back in your pocket. Big difference.
> 
> It helps lower your tax liability, not give your 25k cash.


Exactly, the mileage is simply a deduction from your earned income tax liability. Also, once you go to an LLC or Corp you don't get the mileage rate anymore. You'll have to itemize expenses and depreciation. Even if you have more of a loss the IRS isn't going to give you a refund on them either....you just won't owe any taxes...and then you only get a few years to do even that before your business is now a hobby. All in all people will learn there is nothing good about taking losses...it's better to earn more than less...period.


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