# Taxes Advice!



## iLoveMinny33 (Apr 16, 2019)

What is the best way to maximize write offs for taxes? What is the best app to track mileage & gas expenses? I'd like to know more about the tax process and how much I'll have to pay regardless of reporting mileage & gas?

Thanks so much!


----------



## flyntflossy10 (Jun 2, 2017)

how many hours do you work a week?

is this your main source of income?


----------



## iLoveMinny33 (Apr 16, 2019)

flyntflossy10 said:


> how many hours do you work a week?
> 
> is this your main source of income?


I'm trying to work 50+ so yeah it will be my main source


----------



## flyntflossy10 (Jun 2, 2017)

well people use mileIQ or stride. you could write off the expense of your vehicle, or you could write off your miles


----------



## Terri Lee (Jun 23, 2016)

iLoveMinny33 said:


> What is the best way to maximize write offs for taxes?


Why not ask this question in the TAXES FORUM?


----------



## Soldiering (Jan 21, 2019)

She's new. Cut her some slack. Fly by the seat of your pants, I do.


----------



## Coachman (Sep 22, 2015)

If you use the standard mileage deduction you won't need to worry about tracking gas and other miscellaneous expenses.


----------



## Terri Lee (Jun 23, 2016)

Soldiering said:


> She's new. Cut her some slack.


Had no idea pointing out different areas of the forum indicated a lack of slack.


----------



## Christinebitg (Jun 29, 2018)

iLoveMinny33 said:


> What is the best way to maximize write offs for taxes? What is the best app to track mileage & gas expenses? I'd like to know more about the tax process and how much I'll have to pay regardless of reporting mileage & gas?
> 
> Thanks so much!


I use the memo feature in my phone. When I start driving, I start a new memo with the day, time, and odometer reading.

I make a few notes during the time I'm driving, including things like gas stops.

When I finish driving and pull into the garage at home, I also enter the time and mileage. THEN, I email it to myself. That way, I've preserved the record of it on Google, even if I lose my phone.

Every few days, I digest the mileage figures into a separate document. It's done on paper, but if I had my s*** together, it would be in Excel.

I use that document to generate the information that goes into my tax return.

As someone else said, just use the mileage deduction. If my actual expenses were higher, it would be time to buy a different car. I track that closely in my personal budget, which is entirely unrelated to my driving for Uber.

Christine


----------



## SoFlaDriver (Aug 11, 2018)

Personally, I'm very low tech, but it works for me. A simple pocket-size spiral notebook, tucked into my car's console box, on which I write my starting mileage and ending mileage each day. At tax time I transfer the numbers to an Excel spreadsheet, total them up, and that's my mileage. To that I add various other expenses -- cell phone, car cleaning supplies, cell phone holder, snacks for riders, etc. -- anything not car maintenance-related (that's covered by the mileage) that I had to pay for to do rideshare. The Turbo Tax edition offered free through Uber actually suggested a bunch of stuff like this I hadn't thought of. 

Might some of this be not exactly completely up to tax law? Maybe. I've heard I should really get more complicated about the mileage, but I just record starting and ending, which ends up counting all the miles I drive while I'm just cruising for a better spot for a ping.

If they audit me over it, so be it. I ended up, after everything this year, just slightly in the red for my rideshare 'business.' That's kind of what you should aim for. But I suppose that depends how much you do this thing. I'm part time, just a side hustle for me.


----------



## steveK2016 (Jul 31, 2016)

iLoveMinny33 said:


> What is the best way to maximize write offs for taxes? What is the best app to track mileage & gas expenses? I'd like to know more about the tax process and how much I'll have to pay regardless of reporting mileage & gas?
> 
> Thanks so much!


With the mileage you do doing Uber, miles is the way to go. I use TripLog, easy to use.


----------



## FLKeys (Dec 27, 2018)

iLoveMinny33 said:


> What is the best way to maximize write offs for taxes? What is the best app to track mileage & gas expenses? I'd like to know more about the tax process and how much I'll have to pay regardless of reporting mileage & gas?
> 
> Thanks so much!


Depending on the rate per mile in your area you may or may not owe ant taxes.

You are going to get mixed answers on tracking mileage. Some just track start of day to end of day. Others track every stop they make. I track every stop I make, I use this tracking to keep other records as well. As far as using an app, I can't help much there. I tried one under the trial period before I had to pay and it was off by about 3% if I remember correctly and not in my favor. 3% of 50,000+ miles adds up quickly. I keep a Steno Pad and pen in my car and record every trip there and then transfer it to Excel either during dead time or at the end of the day.

Expenses are easy to track, just keep all your receipts. I also enter these in my spreadsheet daily and keep the receipt in an envelope labeled for each month.

I have put together and Excel workbook that keeps all my trip information and it calculates everything for me. I can tell you my income per mile, non taxable profit, taxable profit, and current tax liability at the end of every day. I can use pivot tables to see what spots are better than others. Watching Income per mile driven helps keep me aware of too many dead miles and allows me to change my driving habits for the better. I am currently 3¢ per mile over what I was last year by driving smarter.Again at 50,000+ miles per year every penny saved per mile equates to $500 in non taxable profit.


----------



## UberTaxPro (Oct 3, 2014)

iLoveMinny33 said:


> What is the best way to maximize write offs for taxes? What is the best app to track mileage & gas expenses? I'd like to know more about the tax process and how much I'll have to pay regardless of reporting mileage & gas?
> 
> Thanks so much!


1. Keep good records (90% of this is usually a mileage log) 
2. I like TripLog because it has a manual mode
3. What you'll have to pay is based on how much you earn which can not be determined regardless of reporting mileage. Does that make sense?


----------



## islanddriver (Apr 6, 2018)

Triplog


----------



## Christinebitg (Jun 29, 2018)

FLKeys said:


> I can use pivot tables to see what spots are better than others.


I'm familiar with pivot tables. How are you using them to see which spots are better?


----------



## FLKeys (Dec 27, 2018)

Christinebitg said:


> I'm familiar with pivot tables. How are you using them to see which spots are better?


I have cells for Day of week, City, Zip Code, and location name among other things. In location name I use business name or residence if a home. Most of my pick-ups are businesses (Restaurants, Bars, Hotels, Resorts) I can easily sort my trip log using pivot tables to see what zip codes pan out the most, what towns pan out the most, and what properties pan out the most.

For example Resort A consistently generates more activity on Fri & Sat while resort B consistently generates more activity Mon - Wed. Town A is better on Mon & Wed certain nights over Town B, while Town B is really hopping on Tue & Sat. Both towns are about the same on Fri & Sun.

When I really started analyzing the data it showed me what I though was better spots was not really correct because trip data clearly shows these spots were better. In my mind the places I liked better stuck out over other places that I did not care for. This apparently was impacting my opinion on what I thought was better spots.

It also helped me learn patterns of resorts and when they hold weddings. Property X has weddings every Tuesday and Saturday. Property Y has weddings every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. Property Z is the only property that consistently has weddings on Sundays.

Maybe because I live in a tourist area this information is more helpful over driving in a big city, I really don't know. That is why I always say: Every market and person is different, do what you think is right for you and your market.


----------

