# So Lyft actually does wait till the very last day to give us our tax info...



## Geno71 (Dec 23, 2016)

I wonder if these ridesharing companies want to be hated. I have all my tax stuff ready to go, the only thing that's missing is Lyft's tax information. I've said it before about Uber, how hard can it be? I'm 99% sure it's not a technical reason but it's actually somehow beneficial to them to wait as long as possible. That's annoying.


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## sfodriver (Nov 19, 2016)

There's no good reason for this. They're just dumb. The info should be available on Jan 1 since it's all automatically collected. But it also takes them two days just to close out the previous week.


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## Geno71 (Dec 23, 2016)

sfodriver said:


> There's no good reason for this. They're just dumb. The info should be available on Jan 1 since it's all automatically collected. But it also takes them two days just to close out the previous week.


That's why I suspect there is more to it. I also think it should be quick and easy, I mean they have the data, how hard can it be for whatever accounting system they use to process it and generate the form. I thought for sure Uber will make me wait longer than Lyft, but here we are, it's January 30 evening and looks like their promise to have them on Jan 31 is not "by" Jan 31, but they mean what they say, it's "on" Jan 31. Now I hope we actually get it tomorrow, I believe technically the last day for 1099s is February 1st.


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## Blackout 702 (Oct 18, 2016)

Geno71 said:


> I wonder if these ridesharing companies want to be hated. I have all my tax stuff ready to go, the only thing that's missing is Lyft's tax information. I've said it before about Uber, how hard can it be? I'm 99% sure it's not a technical reason but it's actually somehow beneficial to them to wait as long as possible. That's annoying.


Most jobs I've ever had wait until the last minute to get tax information out. You want to believe that it's somehow unique to ridesharing companies, ot that they want to be hated because of a common practice? Welcome to the world of gainful employment.

It's hilarious for someone who works at the very lowest rung of a multi-million-dollar company to say "How hard can it be?" Go ahead and start a hugely successful business and then show everyone how decisions can be made that make all people happy all of the time.

It's no big deal. If you aren't used to this, next year just assume that you will get your tax info from the previous year's employers at the last minute and plan accordingly. If it happens to come earlier than the last day allowed by law (it won't), consider yourself lucky.


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## Geno71 (Dec 23, 2016)

Blackout 702 said:


> Most jobs I've ever had wait until the last minute to get tax information out. You want to believe that it's somehow unique to ridesharing companies, ot that they want to be hated because of a common practice? Welcome to the world of gainful employment.
> 
> It's hilarious for someone who works at the very lowest rung of a multi-million-dollar company to say "How hard can it be?" Go ahead and start a hugely successful business and then show everyone how decisions can be made that make all people happy all of the time.
> 
> It's no big deal. If you aren't used to this, next year just assume that you will get your tax info from the previous year's employers at the last minute and plan accordingly. If it happens to come earlier than the last day allowed by law (it won't), consider yourself lucky.


Thank you for explaining, I mean in 15 years of employment with quite a few companies, I guess I've never learned. My W2 was available in the first week of January, and my day job company is much, much larger than Lyft.

"It's hilarious for someone who works at the very lowest rung of a multi-million-dollar company to say "How hard can it be?"

I don't work for this company, they sell me their service just like they sell it to riders. So yes, as a customer, or a partner whatever, I ask "How hard can it be?". Please don't BS us with this "everyone is doing it", idk what companies you have ever worked for (if any), but I've never had to wait till January 30th or 31st, or February 1st, to do my taxes. Legally they have till February 1st, so again, technically, it's all good, all I'm saying is that it's annoying, I have everything in TT for almost two weeks now and the only thing that's left if the info from Lyft.

"If it happens to come earlier than the last day allowed by law (it won't)"

I don't think you know what you're talking about.


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## DRider85 (Nov 19, 2016)

What day do they send us the tax? Does it matter how long you started?


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## Geno71 (Dec 23, 2016)

It's usually about 2 weeks from the day you e-file if you do direct deposit, so every wasted day is another day of waiting for your money as well.


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## geauxfish (Jun 10, 2016)

Is lyft's 1099 available for download for anybody yet? Still not working for me.


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## Geno71 (Dec 23, 2016)

Nope. Emailed support, but not expecting them to be too helpful.


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## boricano (Nov 23, 2015)

The button is there for me but can't download.


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## Geno71 (Dec 23, 2016)

Yeah, the button was there for a while. No reply from Lyft, they must be all busy over there, calculating our earnings by hand at the last minute.


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## boricano (Nov 23, 2015)

Emailed and got a robo response. Lets keep each other updated on this.


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## River (Jan 31, 2017)

Same here I got a Robot response as well.


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## Blackout 702 (Oct 18, 2016)

Geno71 said:


> I don't think you know what you're talking about.


You don't think I know what I'm talking about, but you can't point to a single thing I said that isn't true. You even said yourself that nothing is being done wrong (as I said), but that you're just annoyed. Cool. Be annoyed by nothing being done wrong. And next time you are running a multi-million-dollar company, be sure to do things in a way that make all people happy about all things all the time. I'd hate for anyone to be "annoyed" with you.


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## Geno71 (Dec 23, 2016)

Blackout 702 said:


> You don't think I know what I'm talking about, but you can't point to a single thing I said that isn't true. You even said yourself that nothing is being done wrong (as I said), but that you're just annoyed. Cool. Be annoyed by nothing being done wrong. And next time you are running a multi-million-dollar company, be sure to do things in a way that make all people happy about all things all the time. I'd hate for anyone to be "annoyed" with you.


I did point out what was wrong with your statements. No, not all companies wait till the last minute to provide us our tax information, W2s or 1099s, not even most companies.

"Most jobs I've ever had wait until the last minute to get tax information out."

Then "most" companies in your experience must just be Uber and Lyft. Get some actual job experience first, then you can speak of "most", until then, you just don't know what you're talking about. As you can see, I'm not the only one annoyed with them right now, please do us all a favor, go troll somewhere else.


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## Geno71 (Dec 23, 2016)

Check you account guys, looks like it might be updated now. However it says now I don't qualify for 1099K, they say I have to make over $600 in 2016 to qualify, and on the same page it says I made $2660 in ride earnings. They must really have an issue with their 1099K process, how hard can it be? Must be hard, I can't wait for some chimp to come tell me everyone is like that or some... thing.

At the end of the day, all I need is that earnings number to make sure it matches mine, and I got that. And it matched almost perfectly, the difference is within $1 lower on their end vs what I have calculated. Got to give them a credit though, unlike Uber, at least they show what their percentage was, that makes things a little easier.

Let us know what you see in there guys. What a pain in the ass this whole business is.


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## River (Jan 31, 2017)

Still nothing here. But I will let you all know when that changes.


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## Blackout 702 (Oct 18, 2016)

Geno71 said:


> I did point out what was wrong with your statements. No, not all companies wait till the last minute to provide us our tax information, W2s or 1099s, not even most companies.
> 
> "Most jobs I've ever had wait until the last minute to get tax information out."
> 
> Then "most" companies in your experience must just be Uber and Lyft. Get some actual job experience first, then you can speak of "most", until then, you just don't know what you're talking about. As you can see, I'm not the only one annoyed with them right now, please do us all a favor, go troll somewhere else.


You keep proving yourself wrong with your own words. Funny, but a sad kind of funny.


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## geauxfish (Jun 10, 2016)

Geno71 said:


> Check you account guys, looks like it might be updated now. However it says now I don't qualify for 1099K, they say I have to make over $600 in 2016 to qualify, and on the same page it says I made $2660 in ride earnings. They must really have an issue with their 1099K process, how hard can it be? Must be hard, I can't wait for some chimp to come tell me everyone is like that or some... thing.
> 
> At the end of the day, all I need is that earnings number to make sure it matches mine, and I got that. And it matched almost perfectly, the difference is within $1 lower on their end vs what I have calculated. Got to give them a credit though, unlike Uber, at least they show what their percentage was, that makes things a little easier.
> 
> Let us know what you see in there guys. What a pain in the ass this whole business is.


Mine says the same thing and I made almost exactly what you did. Not sure what's up the logic of no 1099k.


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## River (Jan 31, 2017)

I just got a response from Lyft they apologized for the delay and said that all accounts will be updated by the end of the day today and if there is any issue with your account to please contact support.


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## sfodriver (Nov 19, 2016)

This company is run by stupid people: the usual Bay Area millennials that think they know everything but have never filed a tax return. Most companies issue this information beginning of January. I think my wife even got her W2 first week of January. This is ridiculous.


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## Geno71 (Dec 23, 2016)

Blackout 702 said:


> You keep proving yourself wrong with your own words. Funny, but a sad kind of funny.


Looks like you're the one trying to prove something here, no idea why you'd even care, but keep it up. I don't care what incompetent companies you have worked for, but for me, in my life, this is the first time I had to wait till the last day to get my tax documents. Everyone has always provided them in the first half of the month, giving me enough time to get all papers in order, fill out the paperwork and file as soon as e-filing opens. By law they have until the end of the month, they didn't break any laws here, but still acted incompetently. A tech company should be able to do a little better don't you think?

I filed my taxes just few minutes ago, yes it is annoying that I waited for them to tell me I'm not getting a 1099K, even though their site said I was going to get one. I made half of that amount with Uber and got a 1099K from them. Can you honestly tell me that there is nothing wrong with Lyft right now?


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## sfodriver (Nov 19, 2016)

Lyft is supposed to send you a 1099-k when....



> Form 1099-K: Drivers who earned at least $600 in gross ride receipts from passengers in the last year will receive a Form 1099-K.


As per:

https://help.lyft.com/hc/en-us/articles/213582038-2016-Tax-Info-for-Lyft-Drivers

With that said... I just logged in and they updated the Tax info for my account and it says "Not Qualified for 1099K in 2016" despite the fact that I had gross ride earnings over $4k. WTF?


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## Geno71 (Dec 23, 2016)

sfodriver said:


> Lyft is supposed to send you a 1099-k when....
> 
> As per:
> 
> ...


https://uberpeople.net/threads/lyft-is-having-issues-with-taxes.137585/

Yes sir, appears to be a little problem


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## Geno71 (Dec 23, 2016)

Got an email from Lyft saying the site says I don't qualify because it's still being updates and it should be available later on today. They make it so clear and easy don't they?


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## GreyBandit (May 4, 2016)

Mine has now appeared...I too had the unclickable button of death, but it's now fully clickable with a PDF of my 1099


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## sfodriver (Nov 19, 2016)

I decided to reconcile the data from my weekly statements with the summarized data for 2016. And the summary is wrong. I'm starting to wonder if their problems are related to Express Drive. Did they completely forget to add this information to the summaries and consequently the 1099 calculation? I mean jeez. Also, it looks like their gross ride earnings calculation doesn't include bonuses or incentive guarantees, which is very wrong....anything they pay you, including a rental reimbursement (aka "rental reward") is taxable income or a taxable benefit.


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## geauxfish (Jun 10, 2016)

I now have a 1099k after it said I didn't qualify although I made more than $600. Lyft has proven itself to be even worse than uber and that's hard to do.


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## JJS (Jan 5, 2016)

If you want them to send them quicker contact congress to change the law. Automation is a lot different and they should be cranking these out in a couple of weeks at most. Law says 01/31. Sorry...


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## sfodriver (Nov 19, 2016)

That's nonsense. Quickbooks Self Employed (Lyft's "partner") can recalculate estimated taxes instantly. There's no reason why Lyft couldn't have such a system...you know, if they actually cared about their drivers as much as our passengers say they do.

Anyway, the 1099-K is pretty much useless. It only tells you how much they collected on behalf of passengers for the rides you gave. It doesn't account for incentives, bonuses, hourly guarantees or Express Drive rental/mileage reimbursements (all taxable income). It doesn't show commissions or any other fees paid to Lyft--you have to get that from the portal. Lyft could be doing a much better job here. For sure this situation is the worst for Express Drive drivers as Lyft doesn't accurately portray the numbers for that program. And for anyone that received the $65 bonus during Christmas week, it looks like they buried it in Total Fees without actually making it a line item (at least on mine it's not, they just deducted it from rental personal miles and taxes paid).


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## Pixekchik (Oct 14, 2016)

I just downloaded my 1099-k. They dif not show the NET payment...only the gross. But I did see the total Lyft commision in the app under the tax info. I'm not used to getting 1099s. Is that typical?


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## Geno71 (Dec 23, 2016)

Pixekchik said:


> I just downloaded my 1099-k. They dif not show the NET payment...only the gross. But I did see the total Lyft commision in the app under the tax info. I'm not used to getting 1099s. Is that typical?


Yes, that's how they do it, but when you file your taxes, you enter your gross income, then you can enter your business expenses, first you're going to do your car expenses, most likely in a form of mileage, then you can go to other business expenses (Turbo Tax) and enter their fees into the Commissions and Fees field. A complete for should look like this:










Your taxable income should be gross, minus mileage, minus commissions and fees. For me it ended up being $655. That's the amount I had to pay taxes on.


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## Pixekchik (Oct 14, 2016)

Okay...thanks...so the commisions and fees line is what Lyft commission is? Sorry if I seem stupid.


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## Geno71 (Dec 23, 2016)

Pixekchik said:


> Okay...thanks...so the commisions and fees line is what Lyft commission is? Sorry if I seem stupid.


Not stupid at all, took me a while to figure it out. Yes, that's where their feed go. I wish they would just post a tutorial, instead they say they don't give tax advice and drivers are left to figure it all out on their own.


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## Pixekchik (Oct 14, 2016)

Thanks! Makes sense now.


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## fairsailing (May 16, 2016)

Wow, Lyft could be so much more helpful here. So here is how I get the 1099's to actually tie out to my Lyft 2016 bank deposits, YMMV:

1099k minus tips from 1/7/17 Lyft 2016 annual summary email (hope you saved it) times 0.8 or 0.75 (commission) plus amount on 1099-misc (which appear to include AHG and other paid bonuses), plus tips.


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## sfodriver (Nov 19, 2016)

Geno71 said:


> Your taxable income should be gross, minus mileage, minus commissions and fees. For me it ended up being $655. That's the amount I had to pay taxes on.


Your taxable income needs to include all incentives as well *and that amount is NOT included in the 1099-K amount*. Lyft calls these things "non-ride earnings." Lyft will also issue a 1099-MISC if those non-ride earnings are over $600. BUT they don't seem to understand (or maybe it's an oversight) that Express Drive rewards should also be included in non-ride earnings and as of today, they still aren't reported anywhere...which is wrong. The way Lyft presents the info right now for Express Drive is as if the car is free and the transaction doesn't even exist. This would be problematic in an audit since a "free" car is still a taxable benefit. Sigh.

This is the short list of "non-ride earnings":

Referral bonuses 
Mentor payments
Express Drive bonuses
Damage fees
Incentives such as Average Hourly Guarantees
As mentioned, they will not appear on the 1099-K, a document whose only purpose is to report charges handled by a third-party processor on your behalf....in other words, the 1099-K only shows whatever was charged to riders on your behalf by Lyft. What they should be issuing everyone is 1099-MISC and not a 1099-K since they state that we're contractors but if they issue a 1099-K they can pretend we're not even that.


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