# What did Uber mean by this?



## Leo. (Dec 27, 2015)

I thought Uber just reported the driving mileage from the time you pick up a passenger, until you drop him/her off. Does this mean that the mileage shown on the yearly summary report is the actual accurate mileage one has to claim since that is the online time???

This is driving me mad, I reported way more miles than that..... but the wording isn't ambiguous, it really does say those are all the miles driven. Help....


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## Pax Collector (Feb 18, 2018)

Leo. said:


> View attachment 223416
> 
> 
> I thought Uber just reported the driving mileage from the time you pick up a passenger, until you drop him/her off. Does this mean that the mileage shown on the yearly summary report is the actual accurate mileage one has to claim since that is the online time???
> ...


Any time you're driving with your app on, Uber is tracking your miles, which can be higher than your actual on trip mileage. This number, however is still lower than your actual business miles as it doesn't count your offline miles, such as dead miles and your miles when heading home after driving. The best you can do is log in your starting and ending miles everyday you drive. The only portion that's not deductible is the miles you drive to pick up your first rider. After that everything else until you return home can be deducted. Pen and paper are your friends in this case and don't use Uber's mileage report for your taxes.


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## KD_LA (Aug 16, 2017)

Pax Collector said:


> The only portion that's not deductible is the miles you drive to pick up your first rider.


My accountant tells me that is also deductible, as are miles driven offline to locations where you plan to get pings.


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## Kodyhead (May 26, 2015)

KD_LA said:


> My accountant tells me that is also deductible, as are miles driven offline to locations where you plan to get pings.


The way it was interpreted to me was on the way to the first ride is technically a commute.

I deducted all the miles anyway lol


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## Pax Collector (Feb 18, 2018)

KD_LA said:


> My accountant tells me that is also deductible, as are miles driven offline to locations where you plan to get pings.


I mentioned that for the sake of "Sticking to the book". I did deduct everything, including my miles driving to pick up my first pax. The "Commute" clause can be quite ambiguous, especially for us.


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## KD_LA (Aug 16, 2017)

Kodyhead said:


> The way it was interpreted to me was on the way to the first ride is technically a commute.
> 
> I deducted all the miles anyway lol


That would be a commute if you're an employee-- which as we know all too well, we are not. As an independent contractor, we literally run our own business and every mile we put into the business is a business expense. Below I've pasted my accountant's exact words in response to me asking her about this. One thing to keep in mind: her reference to "airport spot" -- this has to do with how I asked her my questions and how I sometimes drive, there are times when (around 10:30pm) I stop making pickups within the city and I head to the airport to only make airport pickups (to avoid drunks), which can lead to dead miles.

"_The good news is that basically all driving you do for Uber is deductible. Since you don't have a main place of business, you will be able to deduct miles driving from home to your airport spot, as well as in between riders driving back to airport or other desirable spot. Even if the app is off, you're still using your car to position yourself for more business. You can include driving home at the end of the day as well since you don't have an office you're commuting from.

Unless you go off the clock in order to run a personal errand (i.e. lunch), the miles are deductible. Keep a good record of all miles on Uber driving days._"


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

KD_LA said:


> That would be a commute if you're an employee-- which as we know all too well, we are not. As an independent contractor, we literally run our own business and every mile we put into the business is a business expense. Below I've pasted my accountant's exact words in response to me asking her about this. One thing to keep in mind: her reference to "airport spot" -- this has to do with how I asked her my questions and how I sometimes drive, there are times when (around 10:30pm) I stop making pickups within the city and I head to the airport to only make airport pickups (to avoid drunks), which can lead to dead miles.
> 
> "_The good news is that basically all driving you do for Uber is deductible. Since you don't have a main place of business, you will be able to deduct miles driving from home to your airport spot, as well as in between riders driving back to airport or other desirable spot. Even if the app is off, you're still using your car to position yourself for more business. You can include driving home at the end of the day as well since you don't have an office you're commuting from.
> 
> Unless you go off the clock in order to run a personal errand (i.e. lunch), the miles are deductible. Keep a good record of all miles on Uber driving days._"


Unless Uber is Not available in route to your work area.


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## Kodyhead (May 26, 2015)

I think there may be an advantage to just driving around with the app on now, and not accepting rides as they document all miles while online lol. I think I will make sure I use up all driving hours every day even if I don't plan to work when possible lol


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## KD_LA (Aug 16, 2017)

tohunt4me said:


> Unless Uber is Not available in route to your work area.


Not available how?


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

KD_LA said:


> Not available how?


I drive 50 miles to drive uber.

Befor last year, uber wasnt available till 10 miles from my work area.


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## Kodyhead (May 26, 2015)

tohunt4me said:


> I drive 50 miles to drive uber.
> 
> Befor last year, uber wasnt available till 10 miles from my work area.


I wonder if the average auditor knows that lol


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## KD_LA (Aug 16, 2017)

tohunt4me said:


> I drive 50 miles to drive uber.
> 
> Befor last year, uber wasnt available till 10 miles from my work area.


Ah, got it.

From how she replied above, plus conversations I've had with her on the subject, I would say that ought to still be deductible-- because you're on your way to conduct business and burned 40 miles in order to reach an Uber area.


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## HotUberMess (Feb 25, 2018)

Kodyhead said:


> The way it was interpreted to me was on the way to the first ride is technically a commute.
> 
> I deducted all the miles anyway lol


That's "dead miles", and they count. If you like to drive at a certain area, *that* is your commute.

Just group them all in one group. They're all defuctible. You should pay little to nothng in taxes, because thre pay is so crappy and he standard mileage deduction is high.


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## Uber's Guber (Oct 22, 2017)

Kodyhead said:


> The way it was interpreted to me was on the way to the first ride is technically a commute.l


A rideshare operator does not have a regular place of business, therefore he/she has no commute.


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