# Estimate tax payments or not?



## RussR (Apr 23, 2019)

I am a new eats driver. Doesn't Uber send earnings and mileage info at the end of the year? Eats is a second job for me, with the earnings sent at the end of the year, do I still need to send in estimated tax during the year? What dates are these payments due? Also if I forget to log the miles to my pickup location, is it okay to estimate that mileage in the Stride app or do I just lose that deduction?


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

I would increase the witholding on your other job, It's easier and the way you make payments costs money.

Also on your first year of doing it they give you more leeway.

The important thing is that you don't owe taxes at the _end of the year_

NOT AT FILING, but that you don't owe $1000 at the end of the year.


1st Quarter (January 1 - March 31): April 18, 2018 (This takes into account the one-day extension to file taxes)
2nd Quarter (April 1 - May 31): June 15, 2018
3rd Quarter (June 1- August 31): September 17, 2018
4th Quarter (September 1 - December 31): January 15, 2019

If you file by January 15th you don't have to make a 4th quarter payment.

You don't HAVE to make quarterly payments if you (or your spouse jointly filing) are still going to expect a tax refund. (this is almost always the case with uber drivers and pretty much 100% of part timers.

PERSONALLY... i make a payment to the IRS every MONTH based on my total profit generated that MONTH. (except December)

The online payment thing makes it a breeze to drop a payment and i just have it on my list of monthly bills to pay. There's nothing to stop you from paying monthly instead of quarterly. It's also a lot easier to just pay as you earn.

Your other option is to increase your withholding on any W2 employee based job. I know a few people who have their spouses paying extra withholding on a w2 job instead of them paying quarterly to the IRS.

AS for the specifics of your log,

I've never heard of the IRS refusing a log that _*existed*_ (as they are virtually impossible to disprove, and not worth their time to even check the numbers)

The IRS is only ever going to LOOK at your log during an audit, and what they are looking for is a log that actually exists.


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## UberTaxPro (Oct 3, 2014)

RussR said:


> I am a new eats driver. Doesn't Uber send earnings and mileage info at the end of the year? Eats is a second job for me, with the earnings sent at the end of the year, do I still need to send in estimated tax during the year? What dates are these payments due? Also if I forget to log the miles to my pickup location, is it okay to estimate that mileage in the Stride app or do I just lose that deduction?


You should keep your own mileage log. It is the single most important thing you should do! Don't rely on Uber's records unless you've got no other choice. Your mileage log will most likely have more deductible business miles than Uber's records and Uber could cut off your access to their records for a number of reasons. The mileage log is a very valuable document to a self employed person like yourself. If you do nothing else, keep a mileage log!
You only need to pay estimated tax on your net income which means after expenses. With a good mileage log that number will be as low as possible. Get that mileage log going asap (I like trip log) then we'll talk about the other stuff. Without a good log you're spinning your wheels financially in this business.


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## WAHN (May 6, 2019)

I hate filing taxes. 

Since this is an "estimated" tax, is it okay to just run quick, incomplete numbers for a rough estimate and send that, or do we have to submit some sort of official estimated tax return 3-4 times per year?

As an example:

I expect to make about $40k for the year and average $1.20 per mile, so that would be just over 33K miles driven. That's a write-off of about $19.3k

Then I could just submit an estimated tax payment on about $20.7k in net income divided by 4?

Naturally, the final official return would include all other deductions for the entire year, but I'm just curious if it's possible to do it this way.

My eyes glaze over when I try to read this tax crap. I'm not even sure what % I'll need to be sending yet.


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## RussR (Apr 23, 2019)

Stevie The magic Unicorn said:


> I would increase the witholding on your other job, It's easier and the way you make payments costs money.
> 
> Also on your first year of doing it they give you more leeway.
> 
> ...


This is very helpful, thank you. I think paying monthly is a great idea. Do you need to fill out a 1049 es each month? If so can you do that online?


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## UberTaxPro (Oct 3, 2014)

RussR said:


> This is very helpful, thank you. I think paying monthly is a great idea. Do you need to fill out a 1049 es each month? If so can you do that online?


Before you start paying you need to determine if you owe anything. IRS mileage log mail audits are on the increase and there is no first year leeway. if you search this board you'll find some examples. Without a mileage log you won't be able to correctly determine the lowest possible tax you might owe.
It's very easy to pay the IRS at any time here: https://www.irs.gov/payments
1049? If you mean 1040 no you don't have to fill one out each month.


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

I dont fill out any forms, i just make payments to the IRS


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