# Regarding Lyft, earnings withheld. Write off as an expense?



## Otto Junior (Mar 22, 2016)

You may have noticed the very light grey, tiny font at the bottom of the Lyft app that states,_ "Earnings may not be final..."_ and something about passengers having 24 hours to pay.

I've discussed this matter with a couple of attorney passengers, just for fun. Though I see a potential class action law suit here - that's another story. So I first noticed that I was not getting paid as much as my stated weekly earnings. So for example:

_My net earnings for the week ending 9/28/15 was $553.85. The actual deposited net amount was $488.02. I got stiffed $65.83. That almost 12%. _

I only started keeping track because I noticed this discrepancy every week, EVERY week. A customer service email inquiry about this issue pointed me to the same "Earnings may not be final..." notation at the bottom on the app. I haven't kept detailed weekly records. I do have all the amounts deposited into my account, but have no way of knowing what my weekly earning were before they were adjusted. I kept track of three weeks only, but I'd have to write down the number late Sunday evening, or early Morning. By the next day $553 was $448.

_My initial idea was to estimate a 10% (average) lost revenue and write if off as 'lost revenue or earnings' or (accounts payable) as an expense. Any thoughts? _If audited, I'll request Lyft to provide the actual amounts withheld from my check do to passengers defaulting on their payments.


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## Older Chauffeur (Oct 16, 2014)

As I understand your post, your beef is with Lyft for not paying you your full share of fares. Your 1099 should match the total deposits to your bank account. You can't deduct from your taxable actual earnings amounts you think you should have been paid.
Is it possible that the amount missing from one deposit was added to the next one? Did this scenario happen every single week? Could it be that pax are making claims, perhaps falsely, to get refunds?
So, check first your total deposits against your earnings as reported on the 1099.

Disclosure: I'm not a tax pro, and you might consider consulting one.


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