# audits



## azndriver87 (Mar 23, 2015)

Everyone "recommends" everyone to keep track of their mileage incase they got audited.

question is............ did any one ACTUALLY got audited?


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## StarzykCPA (Aug 6, 2015)

I wouldn't be surprised if only a couple people have been audited. The rate is a bit lower due to IRS budget cuts, but don't let that dissuade you from keeping good records. Most audits usually come a couple years after you file your tax return.


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## BostonBarry (Aug 31, 2015)

I haven't filed as a driver yet, but a few years back I had 4 months income as an Independent Contractor (for the first time ever) and that tax return got a desk audit meaning they just wanted more documentation. I had to rent a car for that job but I kept meticulous records so it was no hassle. Wonder what April will bring in 2016!


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## azndriver87 (Mar 23, 2015)

mileage wise im just going to file mileage I drove on record, that's all documents on your uber account anyways.


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## Nick781 (Dec 7, 2014)

So we don't need any other documentation right ? Uber site has it


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## BostonBarry (Aug 31, 2015)

You can just use the numbers that the rideshare companies give you but you're going to miss out on a huge deduction for the miles you spend getting to passengers. the rideshare companies only document the miles you travel while passengers in a car. You can get mileage log books at any staples or other store with office products and just write your beginning mileage and your ending mileage down every time you go out to drive that's all the IRS requires. You can also document other expenses like maintenance repair cleaning cell phone so you may want to keep receipts for that as well


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## Another Uber Driver (May 27, 2015)

If you can get them, credit cards are great for this. I have a gasolene credit card and a Visa card that I use only for the Taxi and UberX mobile. I use them for nothing else. I can pay for my insurance with a credit card. I can pay my mechanic with a credit card. I can pay People's Drug Store or Safeway for a bottle of Spray Nine and a roll of paper towels with a credit card. The car wash accepts credit cards. The only thing that I can not pay with a credit card is the car payment on my UberXmobile. Even though most of what gets written off with regard to that comes through deprectiation, the interest is deductible in proportion to the business use of the vehicle*. Thus, my accountant has a copy of the sales contract and loan contract for my UberXmobile. I keep a copy of the cheques when I receive my bank statement. In fact, I keep a copy of my bank statement.

Further, I do keep a logbook that is a short version of the taxi manifest sheet/trip sheet. I note opening and closing mileage. Any discrepancy between the last closing mileage and current opening mileage is noted as non-business miles. In this log, I write the drop-off time and amount of fare. I keep a running total of gross fares, net-to-drivers and itemised expenses.

As I understand it, most of the time it is, in fact, a desk audit for someone in this business. They want to see documentation. If they do haul you in, if you have all of your documentation in some semblance of order, the Internal Revenue man does not want to waste too much time on you to get a few hundred dollars out of you.


*Add the usual disclaimer that I am not a tax professional, therefore I am not qualified to dispense tax advice. Anything that I state is only what I have heard and should be verified by consulting a tax professional who is qualified to dispense tax advice. Anyone who wants reliable tax advice should seek it from a tax professional who is qualified to dispense tax advice rather than relying on something that I might have heard.


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## azndriver87 (Mar 23, 2015)

gas mileage = miles you driven / combined MPG of your vehicle * average gas price

no one answered my question...
HAS ANYONE ACTUALLY GOT AUDITED?

you're telling me IRS is asking documentations and auditing information from over 1 million drivers? they got a lot of time.

I can also calculate miles to next passenger, distance between drop off location and next pick up locations.

dead miles: from my house to first pick up locations, from last drop off location back to my house.

all of these are documented on Uber website


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## Bart McCoy (Nov 4, 2014)

azndriver87 said:


> gas mileage = miles you driven / combined MPG of your vehicle * average gas price
> 
> no one answered my question...
> HAS ANYONE ACTUALLY GOT AUDITED?
> ...


huh, all of what? dead miles are on uber website?


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## azndriver87 (Mar 23, 2015)

according to some CPA dead miles are not deductible anyways.


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## Bart McCoy (Nov 4, 2014)

azndriver87 said:


> according to some CPA dead miles are not deductible anyways.


If you set up a room in your house as an office for your independent contracting work, you can count dead miles as soon as you leave your driveway.....


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## LAuberX (Jun 3, 2014)

Nick781 said:


> So we don't need any other documentation right ? Uber site has it


Wrong. Keep a paper logbook of the odometer reading when you turn on the app to start working, and the odometer reading when you turn off the app and stop working.

Uber will only give you actual paid miles... not the miles getting to the pax, or moving to a busy area... both of which are work miles.

all work miles qualify for the standard mileage deduction, that amount will vary, but easily double the paid miles Uber shows.

keep a log for 7 years... don't use an app or cloud service that most likely won't be around.


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## LAuberX (Jun 3, 2014)

azndriver87 said:


> according to some CPA dead miles are not deductible anyways.


some CPA's are wrong.

You are working, they are work miles. You driving to a ping is not counted by uber, and it certainly is working. Just that is at least 50% of your miles even if you don't move around much... log your miles, you won't be sorry.


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## JDavis (Aug 11, 2015)

I have been audited for another business. They do not audit every driver, no. It is the honor system. Generally I understand it that they have a computer program that looks for red flags, than a human decides to audit. I was cleared of the audit, except for a clerical mistake my accountant made on a rental I had.


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## JDavis (Aug 11, 2015)

I have also read that if you make up a mileage book later you can get in trouble for tax fraud.


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## Nick781 (Dec 7, 2014)

LAuberX said:


> Wrong. Keep a paper logbook of the odometer reading when you turn on the app to start working, and the odometer reading when you turn off the app and stop working.
> 
> Uber will only give you actual paid miles... not the miles getting to the pax, or moving to a busy area... both of which are work miles.
> 
> ...


I haven't been doing that... what should I do now ?


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## BostonBarry (Aug 31, 2015)

Obviously you should start tracking immediately to maximize the recorded miles. You definitely do not want to forge a logbook and try to estimate the miles you've used. You should probably talk to a tax pro and see if the IRS would be amenable to an estimate for the timeframe previous to your beginning recordkeeping. ie record miles going forward, come up with a percentage of average business miles, apply that percentage to previous miles.


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## Nick781 (Dec 7, 2014)

Wait I can still save the miles Uber recorded for each trip? but I just don't have the odometer readings for them


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## BostonBarry (Aug 31, 2015)

They will give you a report of how many miles you had with pax in car. Better than nothing but likely only 25-50% of the actual miles you put on the odometer for business.


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## Nuber driver (Oct 7, 2015)

You should ask only CPAs that specifically deal with driver /owner operator tax issues. I think I read about a rule of documenting four separate months during the year to have extensive mileage records and being able to use this as a general estimate on Business percentage vs home use. This coupled with an odometer reading each January 1st by an auto mechanic doing an oil change I think is considered sufficient record keeping but you should ask an actual professional. Obviously the more detail you have the better if you are willing to keep exact track of every fraction of a mile up you have before each trip. 

I personally will keep a log that details when I turn on and off the app each day, and specify each personal trip start and end mileage. I do not plan on keeping a record of each drive to ping, dead head mile, etc. When i go active, it's all business miles unless or until i go offline to do something personal or head home. Even going home I would keep the app on in hopes of finding someone on the way until I am about a mile or less away from home.


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## CowboyMC (Aug 26, 2014)

JDavis said:


> I have also read that if you make up a mileage book later you can get in trouble for tax fraud.


It's not fraud. As long as you have a valid method for recreating the log. Don't just make it up. For example, UBER says I drove 20 miles from where I picked up the client to the airport. Say this was your first ride and you have a normal place that you park to wait for rides. You go on mapquest, put in the address of that normal waiting spot, then address of pick-up. Add that to Uber's miles. If you normally return to that waiting spot and you did not get a ride before reaching it add the return mileage from airport to waiting area. and so on till you have recreated your mileage for that day. Repeat for all the work days. As you see, it's a lot of work.


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## makinthemagic (Oct 8, 2015)

azndriver87 said:


> Everyone "recommends" everyone to keep track of their mileage incase they got audited.
> 
> question is............ did any one ACTUALLY got audited?


Sure, may someones got audited. Many others didn't. Best to be prepared for the worst.


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