# "Commute" miles to first ride & meals write-off



## Uberman123456 (Oct 20, 2016)

I believe the miles to your first pickup and after your last dropoff are technically part of your commute and not un-write-off-able

but...

with the level of dysfunction currently in Washington and specifically the IRS furlough and the puny amounts of money involved in my personal taxes, I highly doubt that they'd come after me for something like this. 

I don't want to commit tax fraud nor do I seek to be a zealot of OCD tax compliance. I tracked my total miles in a day honestly but I have no idea how long the first and last rides were.

Anyone have any experience or thoughts?


----------



## Fargle (May 28, 2017)

Not an accountant, but it makes sense. You're driving to your workplace over some minimum writeoffable distance. Who cares what it is you do?


----------



## KD_LA (Aug 16, 2017)

Quote from my accountant: https://uberpeople.net/threads/sinc...s-basics-for-taxes.306655/page-2#post-4689030


----------



## Uberman123456 (Oct 20, 2016)

So somehow it turns out that my Uber "online miles" is about 700 miles GREATER than my personal records. This both means that my records must suck worse than I think they do, but at least I'll just be able to use what Uber says and not have to worry about it.


----------



## islanddriver (Apr 6, 2018)

Mileage count from the time you put app on till you turn it off


----------



## MadTownUberD (Mar 11, 2017)

It's not that you're driving to and from your workplace, it's that you're driving to and from your client(s).

I'm not an accountant, but theoretically you can write off an entire round trip (as long as it doesn't meander too much) if you have ONE Uber trip in the middle of it. That means if you drive to and from a day job you can write off all those miles if you Uber before/after your normal job.

But I'm too chicken to do this. I basically write down the ODO when I start to leave my regular day job / personal route for a ping or to drive to an area to get pings. Then I wrote down the ODO when I rejoin this route. Otherwise I'd be writing off all the miles to and from the next county, which I would drive anyway, so it just doesn't seem right.

It also doesn't seem right to write down all the miles while I'm logged in to the app ("online"). What if I get zero pings? What if I get pings but Decline them all? Not sure that "gap" (see gap insurance) can be considered work, although my personal insurance company seems to consider it "operating a vehicle for commercial purposes" (see gap insurance).

It's unlikely that you'll get audited...like a waiter/waitress with tips. But if you do, and you're writing off all kinds of miles not associated with Rideshare, life could suck for a while.


----------



## islanddriver (Apr 6, 2018)

All online miles are deductions if you get a pax or not


----------



## MadTownUberD (Mar 11, 2017)

islanddriver said:


> All online miles are deductions if you get a pax or not


To me that doesn't make complete sense. What if I want to drive to Green Bay to drive pax during a Packers Game, but don't turn the app on until I get to Green Bay? That's something like 150 miles I can write off, both ways, because I'm going there specifically to drive Rideshare and nothing else.

Similarly some mornings I do in fact drive all the way in to Madison to drive Uber, then drive all the way back home, but I turn off my app on the way home because I want to meet my family for breakfast.

I guess it depends on what you consider your "office" for your Rideshare business. I consider my home my office, because that's where I do all the accounting etc.


----------



## FLKeys (Dec 27, 2018)

If you keep proper mileage logs:

If the app is on and you are looking for work than the mileage is deductible.
If you were taken out of your normal area and return to your normal area with the app off or in destination mode the mileage is deductible.
If you are driving to a store to purchase supplies specifically for rideshare the mileage is deductible.
If you are driving to your accountant for business related issues like taxes the mileage is deductible.
If you are driving for auto repairs, maintenance, car washes, etc the mileage is deductible percentage based on personal/business use.
I am not a tax professional however this is my understanding of deductible mileage. The key to make it pass an audit is to have a properly detailed log, not just a start the day end the day log like most want to keep.


----------



## KD_LA (Aug 16, 2017)

islanddriver said:


> Mileage count from the time you put app on till you turn it off


Not according to my tax accountant.


----------



## FLKeys (Dec 27, 2018)

KD_LA said:


> Not according to my tax accountant.


That is the wonderful thing about accountants, ask 5 and get 5 different answers. Ask the IRS and get an answer saying they can not advise you on tax laws.

Some follow the standards set for say someone like a traveling nurse. They commute to their first patient than have business miles for each stop in between patients. They commute from their last patient back to home or work. While traveling to their first patient/stop or back home they are not actively looking for work, they are commuting to work.

With Rideshare if you have the app on you are actively looking for work. Looking for work is deductible miles.


----------



## KD_LA (Aug 16, 2017)

FLKeys said:


> That is the wonderful thing about accountants, ask 5 and get 5 different answers. Ask the IRS and get an answer saying they can not advise you on tax laws.
> 
> Some follow the standards set for say someone like a traveling nurse. They commute to their first patient than have business miles for each stop in between patients. They commute from their last patient back to home or work. While traveling to their first patient/stop or back home they are not actively looking for work, they are commuting to work.
> 
> With Rideshare if you have the app on you are actively looking for work. Looking for work is deductible miles.


And ask 5 drivers and get 25 different answers.
I rather follow an experienced tax accountant.


----------



## islanddriver (Apr 6, 2018)

Find a new one cause yours is wrong.


----------



## KD_LA (Aug 16, 2017)

islanddriver said:


> Find a new one cause yours is wrong.


I'll get right on that 
(if that was targeted towards me)


----------



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

Meals are a big fat no, unless your buying meals for prospective customers, prospective employees or for your employees.

Buying yourself lunch in the middle of being a Defacto cab driver is out, unless you end up so far away from home that you would consider getting a motel.

Commute miles are a grey area, a very grey area.

However keep in mind that the IRS is no going to dispute a proper log, your problem will arise from not having a log.


----------



## NorCalPhil (Aug 19, 2016)

Stevie The magic Unicorn said:


> log


He said log.


----------



## KD_LA (Aug 16, 2017)

NorCalPhil said:


> He said log.


He's a math buff.


----------

