# New Driver Problems



## stormyweather (Feb 21, 2017)

Hello Everyone,
I just started diving for Uber last week.

I haven't really recorded anything for tax purposes, but I know that I have to do so!

I have a full-time job as a private school teacher (W-2) earnings ad then will have my Uber self-employment earnings to claim come next April 2018.

Is there anyone whose situation matched mine a year or two ago who can give me some advice on how to stay on-top of taxes as I work my way through my first year of this (2017)?

Tax programs to buy perhaps? Is there a tax program that will help me keep track of things along the way?

Any and all helpful comments are greatly appreciated.


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## UberTaxPro (Oct 3, 2014)

The single most important thing you should do immediately is start a contemporaneous mileage log. After a month or so total up your income and subtract your mileage deduction at .535 cents a mile. If your showing a nice profit you'll need to look into filing estimated taxes. If your profit is very small or you're showing a loss you won't need to do estimated taxes. Think of your ubering as a business because it truly is under the tax code. If you use the standard mileage deduction your mileage log will most likely be 95% of your expense record keeping. Get that mileage log going because it's required that it be kept contemporaneously. It doesn't matter how you do it, pen and paper, log book, phone app ....whatever works for you. A mileage log book handwritten is probably the best because it will clearly show that it was kept contemporaneously. Electronic records are acceptable also so just pick what works for you and do it consistently. Having the log is much more important than how you actually keep it!
Since you have a real job you could also increase your withholding to offset any tax liability that you might have from ubering. Talk to the payroll people at your school.


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## stormyweather (Feb 21, 2017)

This is great advice! Thank you. 

Just be clear: if I plan to take the standard deduction at the end of this year (2017), I still need to have kept a log book?

Also, will I need to do anything with the logbook? Or just keep it on-hand in case I am audited?

Is thee a tax program I should use? I have already been using Turbo Tax for filing every year, but now my Uber earnings has complicated things.

Thanks again!!


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## Older Chauffeur (Oct 16, 2014)

stormyweather said:


> This is great advice! Thank you.
> 
> Just be clear: if I plan to take the standard deduction at the end of this year (2017), I still need to have kept a log book?
> 
> ...


TurboTax with Schedules C and SE will handle Uber earnings just fine. The trick is making sure those schedules are included. For 2016, TT Deluxe in the CD format (Costco had it on sale for $40, as did other warehouse/discount stores) was all you needed. But if you used their online/download format, you had to upgrade to Home and Business, Premium, or Self Employment or some such name. That is all Intuit marketing, in my opinion.

For the Standard Mileage Rate (often confused with the term "standard deduction") you still need to keep a log. Save it for each year in case you need to back up your deduction in an audit. In fact, even if you were claiming actual operating expenses instead of the SRM, you would still need a log to determine the portion of expenses attributable to your business.
The SRM is usually best for rideshare, and easier to compute.
Disclosure: I am not a tax professional- UberTaxPro is our go-to guy.


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## stormyweather (Feb 21, 2017)

Thanks again to both of you!

For now, I will plan to use the Standard Mileage Rate, keep a log book, and plan to use Turbo Tax again (but some advanced version for rideshare).

ONE MORE THING (sorry):

I've never used a log book to record anything. 

Is there a paericular kind/ publisher you can suggest? Hopefully there's a Log Book for Dummies edition.


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## UberTaxPro (Oct 3, 2014)

stormyweather said:


> Thanks again to both of you!
> 
> For now, I will plan to use the Standard Mileage Rate, keep a log book, and plan to use Turbo Tax again (but some advanced version for rideshare).
> ONE MORE THING (sorry):
> ...


Any kind will work. You can even use blank paper and pen if you want. It's the information that matters not the book. Go to Staples and you'll find something. "Dome" is the only brand that comes to mind. To answer your other question about what to do with the log; you hang on to your mileage log. If you're audited after filing your taxes the IRS will ask you for it by mail or for a face to face interview. Never give them the original, make a copy and send them the copy.


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## Older Chauffeur (Oct 16, 2014)

I use a Day Planner weekly version. It's important to note that you need to record actual odometer readings (not the trip meter) for start and finish each day, along with the purpose of the business use, which would be Uber or rideshare. I also note odometer readings when the car is serviced, which further supports the accumulated miles on the car.


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## El Gato (Mar 5, 2016)

Here I found this one using a google search and have started using it this year just because it is formatted much more neater fashion than my excel workbook I created:

http://www.basicaccountinghelp.com/support-files/mileagelogbah.zip

found it on this page:
http://www.basicaccountinghelp.com/mileage-log-sheet.html

*note* i'm in the same boat as you. I am a teacher, albeit public not private, an started like you around this time but last year.

Great advice that was give to you here thus far.
Keep a mileage log.
Keep all receipts.
Use that info when you get Turbo Tax and plug it all in. Just like you did before TurboTax is pretty awesome at walking you through all this. It will ask you for your mileage either by start of year odometer reading and end of year odometer reading, or just ask you to enter in all the mileage for business that you did (that is where the mileage sheet comes in handy). It will then ask you for business expenses line by line, which is where receipts come into play. I don't recommend the home office expense unless you can truly justify it (confused on that, wait until you file next year and click on the links that will help explain the IRS rules on what you can and cannot deduct).

Because I am a nerd, I read each of the irs publications regarding buisness deductions/income and even went to the irs websites where they have video tutorials for small business owners to really educate myself on all this. I found it useful. I'd recommend it if you have the time.

In a nutshell, ALL your income (including the 20% cut Uber takes and the Rider Fees) will be reported on a form 1099 Uber will give you next January. That is your gross income that you report to the IRS. Your taxes owed will jump up like crazy on turbo tax when you do that. Don't freak out, it is the same as when you entered in your W-2 info before and then later went in and added in charitable contributions, deductions such as home mortgage interest, student loans, allowable medical expenses, dependents, etc. that brought your taxable income down.

Here, after entering the gross income you start entering all these business expenses (similar to your deductions from the W-2 on your form 1090) such as the rider fees, the 20% uber fee, your mileage (_which Turbotax will calculate for you based on the number of miles you drive- and please educate yourself on what miles you can claim. Don't go by the miles that Uber said you drove when they send you the 1099 next January as you drove many more miles to pick up passengers, go to the greenlight hub for a business meeting, went to city office for fingerprints and all that extra crap...this is why you keep track on a log_), carwashes, airport fees, tolls, waters, and all the other business expenses. Then you'll start to see that taxes owed number start to drop down and can breathe a little sigh of relief . I started this this past weekend and after entering all W-2 income, Int Income, and Business Income I was at $4,000 owed, then entered in business expenses, then deductions on the 1090 (ie. mortage interest, dependent care, charitable contributions, etc.) and I'm now down to $105 that I owe.

Hope that helps from someone who is in pretty much the same boat as you, except I just set sail last Feb


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## stormyweather (Feb 21, 2017)

Hey! El Gato!

Thank you for the valuable response! I read thru the basic accounting help site. Here is another question:
DO I really need to record the odometer readings for each ride throughout the day??? I was under the impression be just recorded beginning and ending miles from the time we go ONLINE until the time we go OFFLINE as we are giving rides and waiting...driving around looking for others.
Also, I found an APP named Hurdlr...anybody use it? Anygood?

Anybody use Hurdlr? Mileage calculation app?

Ugh! Someone please tell me I only need to record total miles from when I go ONLINE to OFFLINE each day if I plan on taking the Standard Mileage Rate next April (2017).


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## Older Chauffeur (Oct 16, 2014)

stormyweather said:


> Hey! El Gato!
> 
> Thank you for the valuable response! I read thru the basic accounting help site. Here is another question:
> DO I really need to record the odometer readings for each ride throughout the day??? I was under the impression be just recorded beginning and ending miles from the time we go ONLINE until the time we go OFFLINE as we are giving rides and waiting...driving around looking for others.
> ...


I'm not a tax professional, but my understanding is that the contemporaneous mileage log requires only the date, start and ending odometer readings, and the business purpose, which in this case would be rideshare.
I can't speak to the mileage apps, as I do mine the old fashioned way, by writing it all down in a DayMinder.


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## El Gato (Mar 5, 2016)

Correct on going online/offline to a certain degree...
In general, yes the moment you go online jot down your odometer, and the moment you are done jot down the odometer and get the total miles you did for business. The IRS just wants to see if you are keeping a) accurate records and b) doing it for legitimate business purpose in the event of an audit - basically all you need is miles for Taxes, but you may want to keep these records organized in case the IRS comes a calling. I track a series of individual drives because I'm in Austin (uber left us last May) so I also drive for 3 other ridehsares (Fare, GetMe, Ride|Austin) and I like to keep track of my metrics on each app to see who is more profitable for me- so it is a little bit more work for me.

To elaborate more on that generality. You are a teacher, as am I, so lets say you leave the school and head downtown to work for Uber, so you don't turn on your app until you get downtown. You are commuting to a second job and those miles are deductible unlike normal commuting miles. This means if you get in your car after work and then to head to a different location to work with Uber I would jot down those miles before you go anywhere, and then when you are done and turn the app off, jot down the odometer to get your total business miles driven. Playing it by the book I do want to stress the moment you go offline is the moment you stop tracking miles. Anything else at that point on the way back home is considered commuting miles. I mean there is no real way for the IRS to know at what point you turned off your app and I know many drivers wait until they get home to jot down that odometer, thus counting those commuting miles as business miles, but it is up to you to determine and how you want to handle that. I personally don't, cause I just feel bad and those are miles that I put on my car anyways driving home from the school even if I didn't drive for a TNC. Sucks though, cause our President can get away without paying any taxes by taking advantage of the tax code and hear I am trying to make ends meet, trying to live honorably, and I end up owing taxes to the IRS, yet he makes 20x more than I do and gets to be the leader of the free world


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

stormyweather said:


> Thanks again to both of you!
> 
> For now, I will plan to use the Standard Mileage Rate, keep a log book, and plan to use Turbo Tax again (but some advanced version for rideshare).
> 
> ...


KISS..

Keep it stupid simple.

Date/time of shift start/stop
Odometer start
Odometer stop
Miles driven
total toll $

3/2 9:00 PM to 3/3 3:00 AM
Odo start 56,646
Odo stop 56, 796
miles driven 150
Total tolls $10.25


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## Older Chauffeur (Oct 16, 2014)

^^^ it's actually "Keep it simple, Stupid!"  Possibly originated by the U.S. Navy. Congrats on excellent record keeping!


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