# Driving part-time will lower your tax refund from your regular job?



## Fatjoe (Oct 17, 2014)

First sorry if this has been brought up before but I couldn't find it...anyway let's say u make 80k at your reg gig and u normally get around a 5k refund how would it work if I did uber and make a extra 10k?? Basically I would lose over half my refund? How would this effect it? I don't wanna start this if it's going to screw up my refund!! Thoughts??


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## Sweet Ping (Jan 20, 2015)

You will report it on schedule C and show loss after deductions. It will get you a higher refund.
You can make a simulated tax retutn for this year, just for science, put $5K from uber, deduct 10,000 miles of car expences and see what happens


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## Fatjoe (Oct 17, 2014)

Ok thanks for the info.....0.57 per mile write off I get it....so why r there so many people on this forum crying about taxes??...so I'm assuming all the part time people pay zero tax??


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## UberXTampa (Nov 20, 2014)

I paid zero tax for this income. I drive distance to pickup, I rack up a lot of miles, Irs deduction helps bring in sanity to the job. Absent this tax advantage it is not worth it for me.


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## Walkersm (Apr 15, 2014)

With TNC rates as low as they are no one should really be paying taxes on the income as long as they are keeping track of their actual expenses/mileage. 

On a side note if you actually get a $5K refund you have got to adjust your deductions. Thats like giving the gov a fee loan every year. You goal should be having to pay taxes at the end of the year. That mens you got a free loan from the government. keep it small though, you know.


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## Fatjoe (Oct 17, 2014)

Yea I know we should adjust it but we like getting that refund every year......I guess it's a way for us to save some money....otherwise we would spend it...making over 6 figures with wife's income and it's still not enough.....


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## Sweet Ping (Jan 20, 2015)

Fatjoe said:


> Ok thanks for the info.....0.57 per mile write off I get it....so why r there so many people on this forum crying about taxes??...so I'm assuming all the part time people pay zero tax??


There are more deductions except miles. Use tsx software


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## Tristan Zier (Nov 25, 2014)

Fatjoe said:


> First sorry if this has been brought up before but I couldn't find it...anyway let's say u make 80k at your reg gig and u normally get around a 5k refund how would it work if I did uber and make a extra 10k?? Basically I would lose over half my refund? How would this effect it? I don't wanna start this if it's going to screw up my refund!! Thoughts??


As others have said, a "refund" just means that your employer withheld too much from your pay throughout the year (unless you're claiming Earned Income Tax Credit or other - but you likely wouldn't be eligible at your combined income rate). You can change this withholding by filing a new Form W-4 (ask HR) - though be aware that if you don't pay enough in taxes on that income, you'll get penalized at the end of the year with interest and fines.

As an independent contractor, you don't have taxes withheld from your pay. So let's say:
* $5K earned regular job, $1K taxes actually owed, $1.5K taxes remitted to IRS (because company is withholding too much)
* $2.5K Uber, $0.5K taxes owed, $0K taxes remitted to IRS
* So you owe $1.5K in taxes in the government, and have remitted $1.5K, so you're even for your tax bill with them

Be careful about writing off too much mileage since:
* This is one of the most audited areas by the IRS because people generally write off too much
* If you have too many years of a business loss, the IRS may say it's actually a hobby and not a business, which means you get charged back taxes on all the expenses you wrote off (since they are no longer "business expenses")


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