# New member-online miles means?



## Chicanito (3 mo ago)

I am a new member working in the city of Bakersfield Ca 2 hours north of Los Angeles. I joined the forum to learn detais and tricks about Uber biz.
I used videos and red a lot but I still dont see clear the meaning of Uber online miles. I found different versions of what it really means.
I know one of you have the right answer. Please let me have it. Thank you.


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## _Tron_ (Feb 9, 2020)

Welcome to the forum.

As best I understand it, online miles is simply how many miles driven while the app is running and you are ONLINE.

Uber distinguishes between three "periods" while you are online. Period 1 is online, waiting for a ride request. Period 2 is when you have accepted a request and are enroute to pick up the rider. Period 3 is when the rider is in the car.

Online miles covers all periods, 1-3. It is mainly used for tax purposes and to accumulate total time behind the wheel, which is limited daily by law and enforced by Uber.


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

_Tron_ said:


> It is mainly used for tax purposes


But don’t fall into the trap of using “online miles” to satisfy IRS reporting requirements for taking the mileage deduction. Whether you decide to keep a written log or use one of the many available tracking apps, you’ll need to keep clear detailed records or your deduction will be disallowed if you’re audited by one of Joe Burden’s new roster of 87,000 additional IRS agents.


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## Chicanito (3 mo ago)

_Tron_ said:


> Welcome to the forum.
> 
> As best I understand it, online miles is simply how many miles driven while the app is running and you are ONLINE.
> 
> ...


Thank you. It sounds to me like my biz miles. What is the difference?


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## SinTaxERROR (Jul 23, 2019)

$$$ / online miles = how much you lose per mile…

$$$ / online time = how much you lose per hour…


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## painfreepc (Jul 17, 2014)

There are several ways to look at it so it's more clear to newbies, let's say for example your parked somewhere are just driving no ones in your car you're logged in trip request is turned on as long as trip request is turned on you are logging miles and time, you get a trip request you're on your way to pick up passenger you pick up passenger you drop passenger off you are still logging miles and time,

another scenario you *turn off trip request* but you're still sitting in the car moving or not and it's logged in you are no longer logging miles and time when you turn off trip requests the *only exception to turn off trip request* is

You have accepted a trip request and then you turn off trip request so you're not bothered while you're on route to a passenger and when passenger is in your car you are still logging time and miles,

Just remember as long as trip requests is on you are logging miles and time if you're on route to a passenger pick up a passenger on route to drop them off you are logging miles and time, I know this seems like a long ass explanation but I've talked to many newbies when waiting at the airport and they are very very confused by this, i don't know why.


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## painfreepc (Jul 17, 2014)

_Tron_ said:


> Welcome to the forum.
> 
> As best I understand it, online miles is simply how many miles driven while the app is running and you are ONLINE.
> 
> ...


I've only been back on Lyft about a week now, is it my imagination or is lyft a little bit more strict with driving time available, uber looks to me like uber seems to play a little loose.


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## SpinalCabbage (Feb 5, 2020)

https://help.uber.com/driving-and-delivering/article/what-about-mileage?nodeId=8cfb60dd-7558-4367-bb29-dd9a5acbf24f



*What about mileage?*
The mileage reported on your Tax Summary is the total online miles including all the miles you drove waiting for a trip, en-route to a rider, and on a trip.
To determine whether your mileage is deductible, we recommend contacting an independent tax professional for any tax questions you may have, as Uber does not provide tax advice. TurboTax, and the IRS also offer additional tax info.





__





Gig Economy Tax Center | Internal Revenue Service


Understand your federal tax obligations such as paying estimated tax, and how digital platforms must report payments for sharing economy workers.




www.irs.gov


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## painfreepc (Jul 17, 2014)

SpinalCabbage said:


> https://help.uber.com/driving-and-delivering/article/what-about-mileage?nodeId=8cfb60dd-7558-4367-bb29-dd9a5acbf24f
> 
> 
> 
> ...


When request is on and/or on route to passanger and serve passanger,
problem is some new drivers think by just being logged in (on) and the car is moving.


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## Chicanito (3 mo ago)

painfreepc said:


> There are several ways to look at it so it's more clear to newbies, let's say for example your parked somewhere are just driving no ones in your car you're logged in trip request is turned on as long as trip request is turned on you are logging miles and time, you get a trip request you're on your way to pick up passenger you pick up passenger you drop passenger off you are still logging miles and time,
> 
> another scenario you *turn off trip request* but you're still sitting in the car moving or not and it's logged in you are no longer logging miles and time when you turn off trip requests the *only exception to turn off trip request* is
> 
> ...


Thank you for your answer. It is helpful it sounds like the fair thing to do by uber. I atached the picture of a page from Turbo tax explanation which points out the confusion. When I read it I see a contradiction on these two statements:"Uber makes it easy to track your online miles..........." "Since uber does not keep track of......." What am I missing?


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## Seamus (Jun 21, 2018)

Uber miles tracking is often wrong. They cya by saying their miles are “unofficial” and they don’t vouch for their accuracy. Do yourself a favor and keep your own mileage log, don’t rely on Uber. Mileage is your biggest deduction, don’t rely on a company that screws everything up.


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## Merc49 (Apr 30, 2019)

Keep track of your own miles online and deadheading back from previous drop-off. Ubers are never correct, if you don't your cheating yourself at taxtime. Also keep track of tolls so you deduct them from your gross uber pay or you'll be counting those dollars as income.


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## _Tron_ (Feb 9, 2020)

painfreepc said:


> I've only been back on Lyft about a week now, is it my imagination or is lyft a little bit more strict with driving time available, uber looks to me like uber seems to play a little loose.


I can't say because besides driving part time, I never log enough hours in a day to hit the thresholds.


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## ptuber18 (Dec 28, 2018)

I am certainly not a tax expert, but I believe that if you deduct mileage, you MUST have a mileage log. The miles provided by Uber/Lyft are not adequate, if you are audited.


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## FLKeys (Dec 27, 2018)

painfreepc said:


> I've only been back on Lyft about a week now, is it my imagination or is lyft a little bit more strict with driving time available, uber looks to me like uber seems to play a little loose.


In Florida, Uber only counts the time you are moving. Lyft counts the time you are online.

I have timed out on Lyft in 12 hours never leaving my house. Uber would show 12 hours available.


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## painfreepc (Jul 17, 2014)

FLKeys said:


> In Florida, Uber only counts the time you are moving. Lyft counts the time you are online.
> 
> I have timed out on Lyft in 12 hours never leaving my house. Uber would show 12 hours available.


Yes this is exactly what is happening, and I run the Uber and the Lyft app, and when I get an Uber trip and I know I'm going to do it I always go offline on the Lyft app and turn it back on for request within 3 minutes of drop off of the Uber trip,


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