# Standard Mileage Deduction



## clayinaustin (Jul 11, 2018)

I am new to the forum. In fact, this is my first post. I have been reading all of the (confusing) posts about taxes and deductions, so I went to the Uber webpage and found this:

Who gets it? Every Uber driver and delivery-partner will receive a tax summary.

What's changed since last year? We've redesigned the Uber tax summary to make it a more useful resource for drivers. Here's what's new:


Total online miles: You'll now see a yearly total of online miles logged. This includes *miles spent waiting for a trip*, *on your way to pick up a rider* or uberEATS order, *and on a trip*. Last year, tax summaries included only on-trip miles.
Expenses, Fees and Tax: Tax summaries now include an easy-to-understand breakdown of your potential tax deductions, to help you streamline the filing of your tax return.

So, it looks like we can use this new information from Uber to claim "standard miles" and ignore all other expenses like gas, oil, car wash, etc.

Agreed?

Clay


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## Older Chauffeur (Oct 16, 2014)

clayinaustin said:


> I am new to the forum. In fact, this is my first post. I have been reading all of the (confusing) posts about taxes and deductions, so I went to the Uber webpage and found this:
> 
> Who gets it? Every Uber driver and delivery-partner will receive a tax summary.
> 
> ...


Uber doesn't decide for you whether actual operating costs or the standard mileage rate is better. In either event, you should keep a contemporaneous mileage log, per the IRS rules, to establish the percentage of business/personal miles.
For most rideshare drivers the standard mileage rate offers the best tax deduction, along with being easier to track.

Disclosure: I'm not a tax professional.


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## clayinaustin (Jul 11, 2018)

I agree with your post, but I like to keep things simple. If I am "online" on the Uber app, then I am working. Since Uber will send me the miles I drive while the app is ""online", then those are the miles I will claim.


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

clayinaustin said:


> I agree with your post, but I like to keep things simple. If I am "online" on the Uber app, then I am working. Since Uber will send me the miles I drive while the app is ""online", then those are the miles I will claim.


Fine, but you still need to keep a daily log showing daily begin/end mileage and purpose of use. I'm not a tax professional either, but IRS offers clear details on their website.


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## UberTaxPro (Oct 3, 2014)

clayinaustin said:


> I agree with your post, but I like to keep things simple. If I am "online" on the Uber app, then I am working. Since Uber will send me the miles I drive while the app is ""online", then those are the miles I will claim.


The IRS by law can not accept Uber's records as proof of your business driving. The only thing the IRS will accept is your own mileage log. It's your responsibility to comply with the tax laws so don't count on Uber to do it for you. Many on this board have found themselves locked out of their Uber online accounts and unable to access the records uber is keeping. It's your ride-share business, keep your own books.


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## NGOwner (Nov 15, 2016)

The miles that Uber reports are only the miles that you drive with the app on.

If you drive for Lyft as well, you won't have an accurate record of total miles driven.

If you turn the Uber app off and and drive the rest of the way home, you won't have an accurate record of total miles driven.

If Uber gitches you won't have an accurate record of total miles driven.

Do you really expect with all the shenanigans that Uber pulls on drivers that they can be trusted to provide accurate information?

Keep your own records. Car odometer. Trip odometer. Mileage log. Always better.

[NG]Owner


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## arich35 (Mar 11, 2016)

Older Chauffeur said:


> Uber doesn't decide for you whether actual operating costs or the standard mileage rate is better. In either event, you should keep a contemporaneous mileage log, per the IRS rules, to establish the percentage of business/personal miles.
> For most rideshare drivers the standard mileage rate offers the best tax deduction, along with being easier to track.
> 
> Disclosure: I'm not a tax professional.


You only have to keep miles for business right? I have a sheet that shows start mileage and ending mileage after working, anything in between I don't record so there will always be a difference from ending to beginning miles


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## Older Chauffeur (Oct 16, 2014)

arich35 said:


> You only have to keep miles for business right? I have a sheet that shows start mileage and ending mileage after working, anything in between I don't record so there will always be a difference from ending to beginning miles


Right, use the permanent odometer rather than the resettable trip odometer in your log.


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## 58756 (May 30, 2016)

Changes the Odomoter. Ahem ahem


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## CaptainToo (Dec 5, 2017)

UberTaxPro said:


> The IRS by law can not accept Uber's records as proof of your business driving. The only thing the IRS will accept is your own mileage log. It's your responsibility to comply with the tax laws so don't count on Uber to do it for you. Many on this board have found themselves locked out of their Uber online accounts and unable to access the records uber is keeping. It's your ride-share business, keep your own books.


Additionally there will be circumstances where the Uber counted miles miss miles.

For example, in Boston you will go offline when transiting back into the city through a toll tunnel in order to not get the commercial rate upcharge.

Occasionally if you have a dropoff out in the distant location and have a DF to use or extra time, you may go offline for the length of the return trip.

You want to track and expense these miles. You must do your own mileage tracking.


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## 58756 (May 30, 2016)

CaptainToo said:


> Additionally there will be circumstances where the Uber counted miles miss miles.
> 
> For example, in Boston you will go offline when transiting back into the city through a toll tunnel in order to not get the commercial rate upcharge.
> 
> ...


Yes because a lot of drivers don't even know dead head home miles also count since you left Uber Lyft to go home. A lot of drivers imo don't take advantage of writing off enough miles for standard deduction


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## LADryver (Jun 6, 2017)

UberTaxPro said:


> The IRS by law can not accept Uber's records as proof of your business driving. The only thing the IRS will accept is your own mileage log. It's your responsibility to comply with the tax laws so don't count on Uber to do it for you. Many on this board have found themselves locked out of their Uber online accounts and unable to access the records uber is keeping. It's your ride-share business, keep your own books.


You are too ignorant for words.



Ozzyoz said:


> Yes because a lot of drivers don't even know dead head home miles also count since you left Uber Lyft to go home. A lot of drivers imo don't take advantage of writing off enough miles for standard deduction


If you drive one app, and the app is Uber, your online miles are reflected. They are reflected even on your way home if the app is on and you show your willingness to take a ride even in the last 200 feet. While it may seem difficult to prove against, Uber can provide record of declines, and if your app is on while en route to home and some auditor gets a bee up their butt, and wants to prove you really were declining, they can disallow that portion. But you really have to piss them off to do that. So long as they arent trying to rip you a new one, you should have no problem keeping the app on up to your home. But at any time you turn your app off, it is not business miles. If you call anything "dead head" it is not in this industry business miles. Uber Plane, maybe. Uber Car, no.

You can appoint Uber to be your contemporaneous record keeper, no problem.


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