# Virginia Personal Property Tax as an Uber Driver



## HitAnyKey42 (May 10, 2018)

Hoping someone can give me the low-down on how things work with the VA Personal Property Tax regarding driving for Uber. I'm moving to Virginia next week and was thinking of driving for Uber (at least part-time) while I am looking for a full-time more stable job. I've already gone through the preliminary steps of signing up for being an Uber driver, and only have a few other items I would need to complete in order to do so.
But I recently found out about Virginia's Personal Property Tax on Automobiles. Having originated from NY and living in DE the past 3 years, this is a new concept for me.

Would someone be willing to explain to me what effect driving part-time for Uber will have on this property tax? My car is a 2016 Toyota Corolla, and I was planning to do pick-ups only in the VA areas from Manassas up towards Herndon/Reston/Alexandria/etc. I don't plan to do any pick-ups in DC (plus I don't have a VA license yet, so can't do so anyway).

Will doing any form of driving (even part-time) for Uber completely screw me in taxes, such that it would make it not worth it at all and I should just go find a temporary job at a grocery store instead? I was just thinking that the flexibility of driving for Uber would help me for doing job searches and eventually going on interviews. But if it would end up making me lose money, instead of helping get a little bit of extra income, I suspect I should just ditch the whole idea.

I've search all over the forums, and elsewhere, and have not been able to find any definitive information on what effect driving for Uber will have on me for taxes or other such things. I already know that I would need to reach out to Erie or one of those companies to obtain that bit of extra insurance for Phase 1. So if getting that for just a bit of part-time driving for a few weeks/months and the effect on the property taxes outweighs any income I might get, well then no point in driving for Uber. Even though it does sound like a decent way to bring home some needed income with the flexibility I need.

Thanks in advance for any insight for a prospective new Uber driver.


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## DRII (Feb 24, 2018)

Driving for Uber, or any ride/car sharing service, has no effect on your personal property (car) tax.

unless you choose the actual expense method when it comes to your tax deductions, assuming you drive enough to earn $600 or more in a given year, if thats the case you can deduct the business portion of your personal property tax. eg; if you use your car for rideshare 50% of the time you can deduct half your car tax.

given that you have a Corolla, its probably best that you use the standard deduction per mile method. a Corolla has relatively low operational cost, so you'll make out better with the 54 cents per mile deduction.

i drive in the Hampton Roads area.

good luck...


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