# MILEAGE DEDUCTION QUESTION



## mylesrob (Feb 8, 2018)

I normally turn on my mileage tracker as soon as i leave my driveway but I do not go online for uber until I get to the other side of town, about 20-25 minutes away, I also usually end on this side of town and do not turn off my mileage tracker until I get home

Are these miles tax deductable ?
The miles I spend heading to and from my "Uber Starting Point"


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## Cklw (Mar 18, 2017)

the commute to your area isnt deductible since app isn't on and you aren't actively working.

If you had app on with df on to area you want to be, then you can count those miles


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## NUBER-LE (Jul 21, 2017)

Nope, uber counts miles while app is online, even if u dont have a passanger.


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## Cableguynoe (Feb 14, 2017)

mylesrob said:


> I normally turn on my mileage tracker as soon as i leave my driveway but I do not go online for uber until I get to the other side of town, about 20-25 minutes away, I also usually end on this side of town and do not turn off my mileage tracker until I get home
> 
> Are these miles tax deductable ?
> The miles I spend heading to and from my "Uber Starting Point"


Why not just go online and set destination filter? 
You might not get anything, but who knows, you might get lucky.

If you did this, those miles are tax deductible.

My regular job is a 30 minute drive each way. 
Uber is on every time, even though I have no intention of doing rides.


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## NUBER-LE (Jul 21, 2017)

Cableguynoe said:


> Why not just go online and set destination filter?
> You might not get anything, but who knows, you might get lucky.
> 
> If you did this, those miles are tax deductible.
> ...


I do about 7 trips to tijuana a year, might leave app on to log miles as a deduction. No intention on dping the rides tho.


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## Older Chauffeur (Oct 16, 2014)

NUBER-LE said:


> I do about 7 trips to tijuana a year, might leave app on to log miles as a deduction. No intention on dping the rides tho.


Then there's that pesky thing the IRS calls a "contemporaneous mileage log".........


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## another bob (May 10, 2016)

For 2016, the uber Tax Summary provided "On Trip Miles." However, on the 2017 Tax Summary, they changed and provide "Online Miles." This is a notable difference.

Anybody know why they changed it ?


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## Older Chauffeur (Oct 16, 2014)

another bob said:


> For 2016, the uber Tax Summary provided "On Trip Miles." However, on the 2017 Tax Summary, they changed and provide "Online Miles." This is a notable difference.
> 
> Anybody know why they changed it ?


Maybe to help those that didn't keep a contemporaneous mileage log as required by the IRS?


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## neweagle (May 13, 2015)

Why wouldn’t these miles be deductible? Sounds like every single mile driven is driven with the express purpose of rideshare, no matter when the app is turned on. Commutes are not deductible but that portion of the statute refers to a commute to an office. If a cab leaves the dispatch lot and drives to the airport to wait for its first fare, wouldn’t those miles be deductible?


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## Older Chauffeur (Oct 16, 2014)

neweagle said:


> Why wouldn't these miles be deductible? Sounds like every single mile driven is driven with the express purpose of rideshare, no matter when the app is turned on. Commutes are not deductible but that portion of the statute refers to a commute to an office. If a cab leaves the dispatch lot and drives to the airport to wait for its first fare, wouldn't those miles be deductible?


Which miles do you mean by "these?"


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## neweagle (May 13, 2015)

Older Chauffeur said:


> Which miles do you mean by "these?"


The ones in question by the OP, from his house to where he goes online.


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## Older Chauffeur (Oct 16, 2014)

neweagle said:


> The ones in question by the OP, from his house to where he goes online.


Answered in posts #2 and #4. A cab driver is available for dispatch on his way to the airport, even if he goes there empty.
There's nothing to stop a rideshare driver from going online when he leaves his house, as long as he is willing to accept pings.


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## SpongemanGreg (Aug 19, 2017)

If the app is online it logs the total miles for you. If the app is offline then the miles do not count.


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

SpongemanGreg said:


> If the app is online it logs the total miles for you. If the app is offline then the miles do not count.


So if i were to go offline because i'm stuck in $3.00 short trip hell, and i want to drive empty out to where the good money is...

That's not business miles?


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## SpongemanGreg (Aug 19, 2017)

Mears Troll Number 4 said:


> So if i were to go offline because i'm stuck in $3.00 short trip hell, and i want to drive empty out to where the good money is...
> 
> That's not business miles?


if you are offline your miles aren't counted towards mileage deduction bc if the app isn't on, you aren't working according to Uber or the IRS.

on that $3 trip make it destination only type trips until you get out of no man's land.


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

SpongemanGreg said:


> if you are offline your miles aren't counted towards mileage deduction bc if the app isn't on, you aren't working according to Uber or the IRS.
> 
> on that $3 trip make it destination only type trips until you get out of no man's land.


I beg to differ,

It's deductible because it's on my log.


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## LUV2DR1VE4YOU (Jan 10, 2018)

Mears Troll Number 4 said:


> I beg to differ,
> 
> It's deductible because it's on my log.


Explain that to the IRS to hear their reply.

When it comes to taxes, and especially independent contractor filing, the whole key to successful tax write-offs is very detailed and defendable documentations.

Simply put, go Online with Destination and that is defendable against the IRS. If you don't it then depends on the IRS agent's mood. Document, document, document.

Commutes are never a tax write-off. In the regular workforce you are expected to get yourself from home to work and back. The same goes with Rideshare commute. That is unless you start rideshare work from your driveway.

I am curious though why you would not simply do Destination to where you want to start, and just not say to the IRS that is where you start and end your rideshare day. Saying that opens a can of worms.


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

LUV2DR1VE4YOU said:


> Explain that to the IRS to hear their reply.
> 
> When it comes to taxes, and especially independent contractor filing, the whole key to successful tax write-offs is very detailed and defendable documentations.
> 
> ...


Quite simply... I've tried doing destination filter trips out to my house on uber, well 9/10 IT FAILED, and about 1/5 times it FAILED MISERABLY.

One time i got one that was a slightly incorect address.. took me in completely the wrong direction. Another time the location was correct.. but the customer changed it into a round trip. Which put me absolutely no closer to home than when i started.

Other times your just too exhausted to do any more, or your going home because business is slow, in neither situation is DF going to actually help.

I've been audited... and they accepted my log...

It was before the days of uber and i had some 70,000 miles that year.

If you run a business out of your car, (Which is assume you are) you are REALLY running the business out of your house. Which changes the equation A LOT!

Simply put, because you run the business out of your house you CAN deduct the miles from your home office to a business location.

Quite simply as a taxi driver... We deduct all the miles because theoretically someone could flag us down... IN our drive way, meaning that any time your driving a taxi your trolling for customers... which is a business use.

With uber your driving logged in to a better location. Let's see the IRS get the proof from uber that you drove empty while not logged in instead of driving empty while logged in.

Anywhere you CAN log in you are at a temporary business location. Whether or not you get any business is irrelevant. Same if you are driving home. You *could* get a ping, so your still at a temporary business location, even if you are driving down the highway.

Because of the impossible nature of proving which miles are deductible and uber being so wide spread. The IRS simply has no reason not to think that you accepted your first ping of the day from your driveway. Unless you are dumb enough to tell that to an auditor.

Frankly as long as you have a log... they can't really argue that.

As long as you don't write off 100% of the miles you drive...
Writing off every single mile you drive is a REALLY BAD IDEA, REALLY BAD.
(I only did it because i owned multiple vehicles, and my claim was that i only used the taxi for business purposes)

Also writing off more miles than you actually drove.

Honestly... the way i see it... uber drivers are at a high audit risk simply because the pay rate per mile is just that terrible. Having a few extra miles is just throwing gasoline on that fire. It's still a raging inferno...

If you drive for multiple services, Scruber/Gryft/DoorDash

You're looking at so many different revenue sources that attributing empty miles to all of them or none of them is... well problematic.

The more detailed you try to get the more complicated and convoluted everything gets. Do you really think an auditor will ever get DETAILED information from uber or lyft about what miles you drove empty with absolutly no task at all? Like for instance going from someone's house to a 711 to wait for your next ping?


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## SpongemanGreg (Aug 19, 2017)

I would rather be honest when I do my taxes.


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## tcaud (Jul 28, 2017)

In USA the game is rigged... there is no honesty.


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## Safe_Driver_4_U (Apr 2, 2017)

NUBER-LE said:


> Nope, uber counts miles while app is online, even if u dont have a passanger.


wrong the Uber summary is miles with pax in car and miles after accepting a ping. The summary does not include all miles driven with app on or with DF on. Clearly Uber and IRS are working together to reign in the mileage deductions moving forward.



tcaud said:


> In USA the game is rigged... there is no honesty.


where is there honesty? At least in the USA there is a pretend wall of citizens rights and rule of law that do provide some protection from corruption, compare to anywhere south of Mexico US border.....no thanks I will stay here.



another bob said:


> For 2016, the uber Tax Summary provided "On Trip Miles." However, on the 2017 Tax Summary, they changed and provide "Online Miles." This is a notable difference.
> 
> Anybody know why they changed it ?


IRS and Uber collaborating to reign in mileage deductions further reduce drivers profitability.


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## SpongemanGreg (Aug 19, 2017)

Uber gives you the total miles. I just did my taxes. It’s on there when you download the tax stuff from them.


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## Okphillip (Feb 6, 2017)

Mears Troll Number 4 said:


> Quite simply... I've tried doing destination filter trips out to my house on uber, well 9/10 IT FAILED, and about 1/5 times it FAILED MISERABLY.
> 
> One time i got one that was a slightly incorect address.. took me in completely the wrong direction. Another time the location was correct.. but the customer changed it into a round trip. Which put me absolutely no closer to home than when i started.
> 
> ...


High risk for an audit? What's that about 1%?



tcaud said:


> In USA the game is rigged... there is no honesty.


You've obviously spent little time abroad. Most of the world is 100x more corrupt than in the U.S. Go spend 6 months in Honduras then come back and you'll change your opinion and see how "just" our system is here. In most of the world if someone does you or your family wrong you have to take care of it by personal vengeance, you can't run to the courts.


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## Remlap48.5 (Jan 26, 2016)

I'm still a bit confused about one thing in particular.. I think. I understand that Uber online miles (not on a trip, or in route to pick up a pax) just the app's on and I'm driving here and there waiting for a ping.. is supposedly tax deductible..? IF so.. Is the Uber tax doc that has my "total online miles" for 2017 enough to file on my return for deductions, or was I required to have all those miles documented, or what ever with a mileage tracker app such as Triplog or MileIQ? I've used triplog and have all my "on route to pick up requests" miles logged but now that Uber has lumped everything in this "online miles" total, for 2017, which is HUGE in my case, I'm more than a bit befuddled. Thanks for any responses in advance.


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