# Blasting off...



## MaCo (Aug 16, 2014)

HA!!! Damn, I got my 1099, and I've been doing it wrong all along. One would think that the amount paid to us is what we are taxed on. That would be normal in any other universe but NO. Uber is graciously claiming _their_ 20% fee as _our_ income so _WE pay the taxes_ on top of what we actually earn. Those Tolls that Uber clients generously reimburse us for... NOPE that is not a reimbursement, Uber puts it down as income, so we get to pay taxes on the tolls that were paid by the client to Uber to "reimburse" us. We also get to pay Uber's taxes on the Safe Rider Fee. I guess the client get's in the car, sees an additional dollar that goes towards extra insurance, but those sneaks are making it look AS IF that dollar reached our pocket, it never did, but guess what, it was taken from our fare, given to an insurance company (maybe) and WE PAY THE TAX ON MONEY WE NEVER RECEIVED.

What I was doing each week was taking 20-25% of each paycheck and putting it in a lock box savings account to pay taxes at the end of the year. WRONG!!! I should have added this new fee and Ubers 20% and Tolls together to get my 20%. Put another way, for the sake of argument, if my total fares were $1000 and I got paid $800, I was socking away $160 dollars for taxes. What I should have been doing was taking $200 of my $800 in pay. Not a big deal you say? Multiply the discrepancy by 10, 20 weeks, 52 weeks if you drove all year.

Now, those who think they are making $30/hour driving for Uber, take all this into account. You are being TAXED on $30 dollars an hour BEFORE Uber takes their cut, gas, maintenance, taxes, etc. So subtract $6 for Uber and more than $6* for the government, they are both dipping into your total fares. *And adding the drivers fee, etc to your total taxable income.

*I don't like this*, so this is what I did, maybe you can do something similar. After the minimum fare dropped to $2.50 per ride, I quickly activated all the people I know, and told them a bit about my dire financial situation, the backbreaking and dangerous work of driving, and asked people to refer me for work, anywhere they could think of. I STOPPED driving for Uber, and for every hour I used to drive, I put that time towards finding more work. I made $0 for the first two weeks, used my credit cards for groceries and rent, and the end result: I got hired to do a one year documentary* for a school at my commercial hourly rate, which is approximately what I would make driving for UBER over an 8 hour day (counting wait time and empty rides into the hourly estimation). So yes, in one hour I now make a days, wage, I have a budget where I can work up to 8 hours on a given week, so in one workday I earn over what I made in a week. That's not all, I leveraged that experience and trust into an artist residency teaching position at the same school, which pays almost half of my documentary rate, that's still pretty good, in one hour of teaching I make up for 4 hours of driving. A few artists caught wind of this, and wanted me to coach them, so now that rate is right in the middle of doc and teaching rates. This made it so I could hire a coach of my own, who quickly found out about my skills. Now we are bartering, but because I put in about 10 hours of work to 1 hour of her time, she is paying me to coach me in a sense (not really, I'm doing honest work!). I did not stop there, I've gone back to my former clients and started to pick up more work for them. BUT WAIT, the most important thing is that now I am in a position to donate 4 hours of my time per week to a person or organization that I will work for no charge (but with a clear contract).

So why the long story, (if you have gotten this far, congratulations)? Because YOU have some value in you that others will pay for IF you can get clear on what that is,IF you take chances, IF you are willing to grow, to change, to learn. If you learn to tolerate ambiguity, to withhold the need for instant gratification, you can jump off this hamster wheel.

I thank UBER for getting me so angry, desperate and frustrated that I was able to unleash that energy into positive change.

I have left the company, and I wish any of you still reading this the energy, the motivation, the strength and everything necessary for you to follow your dreams, and if not your dreams, value yourself and what you have to give, and make an income from that while you prepare for your true calling.

Best to you all, and goodbye,
MaCo Solo
...in a galaxy far far away...

*It will be my first feature length, publicly released documentary, the deal was done on trust, and reputation alone, they never saw a single thing I've filmed in the past, and I'm not a movie maker, I'm a visual artist.


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

Hey @MaCo !
You've put a lot of thought & effort into your post.
Please copy & paste (with some editing) this to Uber support. It will be interesting to see their response.

Also @LAuberX has added this to the 1099 debacle:
Understanding Your 1099-K
The 1099-K is an IRS information return for reporting certain payment transactions to improve voluntary tax compliance. You should get a 1099-K by the end of January 2014 if, in 2013 you received payments from:
payment card transactions (e.g., debit or credit cards)
in settlement of third party payment networks (i.e., online sellers) above the minimum reporting thresholds
-gross payments that exceed $20,000, AND
-more than 200 such transactions.
Report 1099-K Income
Report the gross receipts or sales from all business operations in any amounts shown on Form(s) 1099-K.
If you get a Form 1099-K for amounts that belong to another person, or are a co-owner who may need to file a Form 1099-K or other information returns for other owners, check the General Instructions for Certain Information Returns.

If you are an independent contractor, the trade or business should continue to report payments made to you on Form 1099-MISC as they have done in the past. No Form 1099-K should be issued.

Hello? Last paragraph make Uber look two faced??

The lawsuits say we are independent contractors, not employees. So why the 1099-K???


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## Big Machine (Jun 19, 2014)

MaCo said:


> HA!!! Damn, I got my 1099, and I've been doing it wrong all along. One would think that the amount paid to us is what we are taxed on. That would be normal in any other universe but NO. Uber is graciously claiming _their_ 20% fee as _our_ income so _WE pay the taxes_ on top of what we actually earn. Those Tolls that Uber clients generously reimburse us for... NOPE that is not a reimbursement, Uber puts it down as income, so we get to pay taxes on the tolls that were paid by the client to Uber to "reimburse" us. We also get to pay Uber's taxes on the Safe Rider Fee. I guess the client get's in the car, sees an additional dollar that goes towards extra insurance, but those sneaks are making it look AS IF that dollar reached our pocket, it never did, but guess what, it was taken from our fare, given to an insurance company (maybe) and WE PAY THE TAX ON MONEY WE NEVER RECEIVED.


LOL thanks for showing that you have the education of a typical Uber driver. IF you don't know how the real world works, perhaps you shouldn't be operating your own independent business.


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## MaCo (Aug 16, 2014)

Hey "Big Machine". Thanks for the dig, but I don't need it. You obviously did not understand my post. I am now earning from 4 to 6 times what I earned with Uber, and that's in the real world. I am operating my own business, where I don't pay for gas nor commission, meaning that I get to keep from 75% to %78 percent of my income after taxes. With Uber, as I pointed out, I made less per hour and kept from 35% to 50% depending on circumstances.

You do the math, I hear community colleges might become free, so there's hope for the mathematically challenged.

Chi1 Cabby, thanks for the details and comments, I wish you well!

Gotta get back to the drawing board, literally.


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## Tristan Zier (Nov 25, 2014)

MaCo said:


> HA!!! Damn, I got my 1099, and I've been doing it wrong all along. One would think that the amount paid to us is what we are taxed on. That would be normal in any other universe but NO. Uber is graciously claiming _their_ 20% fee as _our_ income so _WE pay the taxes_ on top of what we actually earn. Those Tolls that Uber clients generously reimburse us for... NOPE that is not a reimbursement, Uber puts it down as income, so we get to pay taxes on the tolls that were paid by the client to Uber to "reimburse" us. We also get to pay Uber's taxes on the Safe Rider Fee. I guess the client get's in the car, sees an additional dollar that goes towards extra insurance, but those sneaks are making it look AS IF that dollar reached our pocket, it never did, but guess what, it was taken from our fare, given to an insurance company (maybe) and WE PAY THE TAX ON MONEY WE NEVER RECEIVED.


This is incorrect. You record their fee as both income and expense, which nets to $0. That means you don't owe any taxes on those fees, and it doesn't affect your tax bracket either. You can learn more about the Uber 1099 and how to read it here: ********************/blog_posts/read-uber-1099


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## BlkGeep (Dec 7, 2014)

Expenses you incurred are your expenses to deduct tard, it's not that complicated, read before you post, this exact subject has been covered extensively this whole week already.


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