# TAXES (do you keep receipts?)



## Guest (Apr 6, 2016)

For those of you that have been driving for awhile, and got a 1099 from Uber/Lyft, do you keep gas / car maintenance receipts to claim or just go with the standard .54 cent / mile deduction that the govt provides?


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## UberTaxPro (Oct 3, 2014)

Beraberg said:


> For those of you that have been driving for awhile, and got a 1099 from Uber/Lyft, do you keep gas / car maintenance receipts to claim or just go with the standard .54 cent / mile deduction that the govt provides?


I keep maintenance receipts that have mileage recorded because they can be used as supporting evidence for the mileage log. Also, I always pay electronically for everything as it creates a receipt that I don't have to save.


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## AmazoneDriver (Apr 11, 2016)

I had all my receipts ready, but it turned out I didn't need them. The the standard .54 cent / mile deduction was enough.
I went through H&R Block. Didn't end up owing any money either.


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## RichR (Feb 12, 2016)

Beraber said:


> For those of you that have been driving for awhile, and got a 1099 from Uber/Lyft, do you keep gas / car maintenance receipts to claim or just go with the standard .54 cent / mile deduction that the govt provides?


In most (almost all) cases, the mileage deduction is better (certainly easier) than actual expenses plus depreciation.

Big-ticket repairs could make the difference. But, you'd still need to split those costs between personal- and business-use miles.

I haven't been doing rideshare very long or very much. But, if I was doing a lot of it, and even more if I was driving a very used car, I'd save all receipts and figure it both ways after the end of the year. In both cases, you need a mileage log documenting all business miles.


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## Older Chauffeur (Oct 16, 2014)

FYI- the $0.54 rate took effect Jan 1, 2016, so that's what we will use when we do our taxes next year. The rate for 2015 tax returns being filed now is $0.575 per mile.


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## IckyDoody (Sep 18, 2015)

I keep a mileage log, all of my gas receipts and all of my maintenance receipts. These are ammo in case I get audited. The log fulfills the irs requirement to document your work miles. The maintenance receipts provide snapshots of my mileage. I don't know if the gas receipts would help, but what the hell.


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## UberTaxPro (Oct 3, 2014)

IckyDoody said:


> I keep a mileage log, all of my gas receipts and all of my maintenance receipts. These are ammo in case I get audited. The log fulfills the irs requirement to document your work miles. The maintenance receipts provide snapshots of my mileage. I don't know if the gas receipts would help, but what the hell.


The more supporting evidence the better! Some people take pics of their odometer every day.


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## Fuzzyelvis (Dec 7, 2014)

IckyDoody said:


> I keep a mileage log, all of my gas receipts and all of my maintenance receipts. These are ammo in case I get audited. The log fulfills the irs requirement to document your work miles. The maintenance receipts provide snapshots of my mileage. I don't know if the gas receipts would help, but what the hell.


I just write the mileage on the gas receipts for backup. They're all stuffed in an envelope just in case, but won't be used unless I get audited.


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