# What does Uber mean by "Off trip miles" in their Tax Summary?



## Hornplayer (Jan 17, 2019)

I found a "Tax Summary for 2019" under my account on Uber's driver website. It lists the number of completed trips I made in 2019, and the number of "Online Miles" I drove in the same period.

It also includes an explanation: "Online Miles shows all of the miles you drove while online, including off trip miles."

What exactly does "while online" mean? What are the "off trip miles" it says it includes?

The number of miles it gives me, obviously include all the miles I drive with an Uber passenger actually in the car. I would guess these are "on trip miles"?

But what exactly does "while online" mean? Does it include miles I drove after accepting a ping and driving to where the passenger was waiting? And does it include the miles I drove after letting the passenger off, and then driving to a place where I get lots of pings, before the next ping actually comes in?

Basically does "while online" mean from the moment I turned on the app and started searching for pings, to the moment I got home after a long day of ridesharing (app still on just in case I get lucky again), park in my driveway and finally turn off the app? For that entire time I had the app turned on and either waiting for a ping, or guiding me to where the passenger was waiting, or guiding me (and the passenger) to his destination. Does Uber keep track of all those miles, and include them all in this summary under "Online miles"?

Inquiring minds want to know! ;-)


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## MiamiUberGuy5 (Feb 20, 2019)

Maybe it's the miles en route to the passenger? Or while looking for rides? You're technically on the clock when you're looking for rides.

not sure if any of this helps. It might be repeating what you said;
Edit found this: per the 1099, *off trip miles* are all *miles*while online except for actual passenger *miles*. for taxes use all *miles* driven, online and offline. with all the deadhead *miles* we drive it should be within reason to claim at least double the pax *miles* for the *mileage* deduction.

Also:


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


The mileage reported on your Tax Summary is total online miles includes 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.


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## FLKeys (Dec 27, 2018)

Online miles are all the miles you drove with the Uber app turned on looking for rides.

Off trip miles are those miles recorded where you did not have a PAX in the car.


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## Peter Vann (Jun 30, 2017)

In the past years, my understanding was that Uber only provided the mileage driven once you had a pax in the car (not the miles driven to the pax). If so, does this mean that Uber has changed the way they report the mileage? Or am I wrong.


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## Toddorado (Feb 5, 2017)

It's deadhead miles. Uber gives you miles while the app is on, but there are likely additional miles when you leave the house but before you get to where you turn the app on, for one of many examples.


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