# Splitting Online Miles and Dead Miles



## tryingforthat5star (Mar 12, 2017)

So from Jan 2017 to September 17 I did not log dead miles only online miles with a PAX in the car. From September 17 to December 17 I logged dead miles. Now with tax time can I just add up all my online miles and if it's enough to write off the taxes call it a day or do I need to add in the dead miles also as one big total? What is the benefit of adding dead miles if my online miles already wipe out my tax liability?


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## wk1102 (Dec 25, 2015)

tryingforthat5star said:


> What is the benefit of adding dead miles if my online miles already wipe out my tax liability


Well if you have other income, "a real job", you can lower your taxable income and increase your return.


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## brianboru (Nov 3, 2016)

tryingforthat5star said:


> So from Jan 2017 to September 17 I did not log dead miles only online miles with a PAX in the car. From September 17 to December 17 I logged dead miles. Now with tax time can I just add up all my online miles and if it's enough to write off the taxes call it a day or do I need to add in the dead miles also as one big total? What is the benefit of adding dead miles if my online miles already wipe out my tax liability?


The "dead miles" create a loss that you can deduct from other than Uber income. If you have income from a source other than Uber the dead miles will reduce your tax liability.


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## Rockocubs (Jul 31, 2017)

Uber tracked both miles this year for you at least they did on mine.


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## tryingforthat5star (Mar 12, 2017)

Rockocubs said:


> Uber tracked both miles this year for you at least they did on mine.


How much legal weight does that hold for the IRS under an audit though?


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## brianboru (Nov 3, 2016)

tryingforthat5star said:


> How much legal weight does that hold for the IRS under an audit though?


I haven't looked mine over yet but if they did it would be fine. The IRS requirement is a contemporaneous log and Uber tracking would certainly meet that standard. I have been audited, but not when I was doing rideshare, and I found the IRS to be quite reasonable in accepting mileage logs and other auto expenses when I was deducting expenses for use of a personal automobile for work.


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## Mars Troll Number 4 (Oct 30, 2015)

tryingforthat5star said:


> How much legal weight does that hold for the IRS under an audit though?


AS much weight as how much they claim they paid you does, and as much weight as how much they collected in fees from you does.

In the past that number was WAY off, i'm talking 50% less than reality. However worst case scenario in the past the IRS accepted it when the drivers had no idea how many miles the drove.

This year it's incredibly accurate, i wouldn't be afraid to use it.


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## txdrvr (Jan 8, 2018)

I have my summary (no 1099) and it has the miles listing. This has the miles I was driving with the app on correct? If I were driving for Lyft and had the Uber app off then the Uber app would not record driving miles, correct? If driving for both platforms it is still better to use the mileage on the Stride Tax app as it reflects all miles?


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## tryingforthat5star (Mar 12, 2017)

I think I'm going to write off the total miles then for the year with what they state. The only thing the IRS could audit on would be my offline miles from Jan to September with no log but come on in reality it's 2018 are they really going to push the issue somehow UBER overestimated the offline miles if there able to track online miles for profit.


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## KD_LA (Aug 16, 2017)

tryingforthat5star said:


> I think I'm going to write off the total miles then for the year with what they state. The only thing the IRS could audit on would be my offline miles from Jan to September with no log but come on in reality it's 2018 are they really going to push the issue somehow UBER overestimated the offline miles if there able to track online miles for profit.


My tax accountant's reply when I asked about driving from home to the airport, on days when I want to do only airport pickups:
"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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## Mars Troll Number 4 (Oct 30, 2015)

KD_LA said:


> My tax accountant's reply when I asked about driving from home to the airport, on days when I want to do only airport pickups:
> "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."


That's what taxi drivers have been doing forever...


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## Matty760 (Nov 9, 2015)

log all miles as stated above from the tax accountant. All Miles matter!


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## PTB (Feb 3, 2015)

so many miles,
resulting in a NEGATIVE number for net income?


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## PTB (Feb 3, 2015)

brianboru said:


> The "dead miles" create a loss that you can deduct from other than Uber income. If you have income from a source other than Uber the dead miles will reduce your tax liability.


sole source of income is UBER.
resulting in net LOSS for income after mileage deduction.


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