# How many of these miles are/are not tax deductible?



## Hornplayer (Jan 17, 2019)

A typical series of Uber rides for me often goes like this (hypothetical example):

1.) Sitting at home, I get a ping for a rider 4 miles away. I accept it, drive 4 miles to pick him up.
2.) He gets in my car, I drive him 12 miles to his drop-off point, he gets out of the car.
3.) Since I'm now way out in the boonies where I never get pings, I drive 7 miles to a place where I usually get a lot more pings, and park.
4.) I get a ping, accept it, and drive 3 miles to pick up the next rider.
5.) He gets in my car, I drive him 9 miles to his drop-off point, he gets out of the car.
6.) I drive 5 miles to a large neighborhood where I often get pings.
7.) I get a ping, accept it, and drive 2 miles to pick up the next rider.
8.) He gets in my car, I drive him 14 miles to his drop-off point, he gets out of the car.
9.) I'm now 5 miles from my home. I call it a day and drive 5 miles to home.

For ALL the miles I drove above, the Uber app was on and active. Until I finally got home, parked in my driveway, and turned it off.

All 9 drives above, were made ONLY for the purpose of doing ridesharing. If I hadn't been actively seeking or transporting riders, I would have stayed at home all day and never driven my car even 1 mile.

I'd like to believe that ALL the above miles are deductible at $.58/mile. I've been using Triplog, it keeps detailed track of all 9 lines above, each separately labelled as what they are.

One problem is, I've heard that Uber and Lyft only keep track of the miles I drive with a ridesharing passenger actually in my car. Lines 2, 5, and 8. I don't know if that's true.

You knowledgeable tax experts out there, are there any miles above (lines 1-9) that are NOT deductible?

Thanks, all!


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## Amsoil Uber Connect (Jan 14, 2015)

From the time you leave the house until you get back. App on.


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## Droosk (Sep 1, 2014)

Hornplayer said:


> A typical series of Uber rides for me often goes like this (hypothetical example):
> 
> 1.) Sitting at home, I get a ping for a rider 4 miles away. I accept it, drive 4 miles to pick him up.
> 2.) He gets in my car, I drive him 12 miles to his drop-off point, he gets out of the car.
> ...


From the minute you turn the app on, until the minute you turn the app off, all mileage is deductible. Even if you are 5 miles from home, and drive the entire 5 miles without a trip, and then turn the app off when you get home. App on = Deductible. Yes, U/L only track active pax miles, just like their advertised earnings number are only based on active pax time.

From an actual tax org: "You can claim any other business-related mileage, such as the mileage you drove to ride requests, the mileage you drove after dropping off the passengers if you are waiting for another ride, and the mileage you drove before rides were canceled. "

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tip...r-drivers-understanding-your-taxes-/L7sbLCSc4


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## 25rides7daysaweek (Nov 20, 2017)

I bought a car specifically to drive uber and do it 12 hours a day. i only use it for uber. Your 1099 will show track all of the deductable miles...


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## Droosk (Sep 1, 2014)

25rides7daysaweek said:


> Your 1099 will track all of the miles


Except you have to make $20,000 to get a 1099. Also, it is incredibly foolish to rely on U/L to track your miles for you. Its YOUR business. The responsibility for operating your business is on YOU.


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## 25rides7daysaweek (Nov 20, 2017)

Droosk said:


> Except you have to make $20,000 to get a 1099. Also, it is incredibly foolish to rely on U/L to track your miles for you. Its YOUR business. The responsibility for operating your business is on YOU.


I make over 75k per year and they've been right the 3 previous years. You asked a question and I answered it


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## Uberbrent (Mar 22, 2016)

Trips to the hub, trips to fill up gas tank prior to “driving”, trip to your accountant, trip to the store to get water, trip to the car wash - I wouldn’t have the app on, but they are still deductible.


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## dmoney155 (Jun 12, 2017)

Hornplayer said:


> A typical series of Uber rides for me often goes like this (hypothetical example):
> 
> 1.) Sitting at home, I get a ping for a rider 4 miles away. I accept it, drive 4 miles to pick him up.
> 2.) He gets in my car, I drive him 12 miles to his drop-off point, he gets out of the car.
> ...


I count all of them for tax purposes.... don't care what uber says... I dont even care what their summary says, I keep my own books.


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## OldBay (Apr 1, 2019)

25rides7daysaweek said:


> I make over 75k per year and they've been right the 3 previous years.


Are you an XL? What are your mi/min rates? What are you grossing hourly on average?

Are you in the car 12 hours a day? (There really aren't 12 solid hours/day in my market, so alot of that time would be min wage or less.) After being fed by the app, you get throttled and trips cool down.

How can you keep up that pace, week over week? Are you a young man? Its become obvious that sitting 12 hours straight is bad for health. I have to go home and work out daily to maintain my fitness level. I drive 40-45 hours a week, and those are the best hours. I gross 24/hr avg (sometimes more/less). if I drove more hours I would be making 20/hr or less.


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## UpNorth (Sep 15, 2019)

As a previous business owner my company vehicle all mileage was deducted. Trips to part stores, trips to have service repairs done. Anything that could be related to the business. I drive Uber Lyft have one vehicle for that and a personal car. All my mileage is deducted from my work vehicle. My business now is independent contractor doing RS for Uber Lyft and private rides.


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## Howie428Uber (Mar 4, 2016)

For me, all nine of those are claimable. The big points on this are that you can't double count, you should think twice before claiming a substantial loss and using it against non-rideshare income, making losses year after year might eventually catch up with you, and the total mileage travelled by your car(s) is a hard maximum for what you can claim.


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## UpNorth (Sep 15, 2019)

I had my own business 20 years with an accountant I know how income and deductions work. I do RS part time 30hrs most weeks am good, I have another income coming in all deductions is helpful


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