Rideshare tax organizer: Uber and Lyft income, miles and car costs

A driver who works through an app is usually an independent contractor, and the income goes on Schedule C. The apps may send two kinds of form. Form 1099-K is the form payment apps and marketplaces file for payments made through them. It is required when a driver’s payments total over $20,000 in more than 200 transactions, and an app may send one below that line (IRS, Understanding your Form 1099-K).

For payments made after 2025, the threshold for Form 1099-NEC rose to $2,000, so fewer drivers will get one for bonuses and referral pay (Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC). Neither threshold changes what is taxable. The IRS says gig workers must report all income, even when no Form 1099 arrives (IRS, Manage taxes for your gig work).

So the organizer asks for each app by name, and for the yearly tax summary in the driver account when the app offers one. The summary often splits gross fares from the fees the app kept, which the form alone may not show. If the driver also delivered food or groceries, those apps go in the same list, since the car questions are shared.

Miles are often the largest deduction on a driver’s return, and 2026 needs two totals. The IRS business rate is 72.5 cents a mile for January 1 to June 30, and 76 cents a mile for July 1 to December 31 (IRS, Standard mileage rates). A single yearly figure cannot be priced, so the organizer asks for each half separately.

Commuting is the drive between home and a regular place of work, and it is a personal cost (IRS Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses). Ask the driver to separate miles driven for the business from personal and commuting miles, and to say how the log was kept, such as an app, a notebook or a spreadsheet. A timely log is one written at or near the time of each trip, and a log kept each week counts (IRS Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses).

The method question has a time limit. To use the standard rate for a car the driver owns, it must be chosen in the first year the car is used for the business (IRS Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses). For a leased car, the standard rate must be used for the whole lease once chosen (IRS Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses). That is why the organizer asks when the car was first used for driving, and whether it is owned or leased.

With the actual expense method, the driver deducts the business share of what the car really cost: fuel, oil, repairs, tires, insurance, registration, lease payments and depreciation (IRS Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses). It needs every receipt, plus the same mileage log to work out the business share.

Equipment rules changed too. Gig workers can deduct the full cost of certain business equipment, such as a vehicle or a computer, acquired after Jan. 19, 2025, in the first year of use, when it is used more than 50% for business (IRS Tax Tip 2026-26, Filing tips and updates for gig economy workers). For a passenger car, though, first-year depreciation is capped: $20,300 with bonus depreciation for a car placed in service in 2026 (Rev. Proc. 2026-15, depreciation limits for passenger automobiles), or $20,200 for one placed in service in 2025 (IRS Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses). A driver who takes the standard mileage rate for a year cannot also deduct depreciation for that year (IRS Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses). Ask for the purchase contract and the date the car first carried passengers.

Costs other than the car belong in the organizer as well. Ask about costs such as the phone bill and the share used for driving, a phone mount and chargers, water and cleaning supplies for passengers, and tolls and parking the app did not pay back.

Drivers often ask what proof they need for small costs. Under the IRS rules for car and travel costs, a receipt is not needed for an expense, other than lodging, of less than $75 (IRS Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses). The driver still needs a written record of the amount, date, place and business purpose.

Records made on a phone or a computer count, since a record prepared on a computer is considered adequate (IRS Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses). The organizer therefore accepts an export from a mileage or expense app, as long as it shows each trip or each cost on its own line.

Tips paid through the app need their own question. From 2025 through 2028, gig workers can deduct up to $25,000 of qualified tips a year, and a self-employed worker’s deduction cannot exceed the net income of the business where the tips were earned (IRS Tax Tip 2026-26, Filing tips and updates for gig economy workers). For a self-employed driver, the tips count only if they are reported on Form 1099-MISC, 1099-NEC or 1099-K (IRS FS-2026-07, The Working Families Tax Cuts: what gig economy workers should know). The deduction also phases out above $150,000 of modified AGI, or $300,000 on a joint return (IRS fact sheet, Tax deductions for working Americans and seniors). So a driver whose app sent no form should still keep the app’s tip totals and raise the point with the preparer.

Cash tips, bonuses and referral payments outside the forms are also income. If the driver holds a W-2 job at the same time, ask for that Form W-2 too: the IRS notes that more withholding from the paycheck may replace estimated payments on gig income (IRS, Manage taxes for your gig work).

A driver must file a return when net earnings from self-employment reach $400 or more, even for a side job (IRS, Manage taxes for your gig work). No tax is withheld from app income, so the driver may have to pay estimated tax each quarter (IRS, Manage taxes for your gig work). The organizer asks for the date and amount of each payment, because the preparer matches them against IRS records.

1. April 15, for income earned January 1 to March 31 (IRS, Manage taxes for your gig work).
2. June 15, for April 1 to May 31 (IRS, Manage taxes for your gig work).
3. September 15, for June 1 to August 31 (IRS, Manage taxes for your gig work).
4. January 15 of the next year, for September 1 to December 31; a date on a weekend or holiday moves to the next business day (IRS, Manage taxes for your gig work).

• IRS, Manage taxes for your gig work: Gig income must be reported even without a Form 1099; a return is required at $400 of net self-employment earnings; estimated tax is due April 15, June 15, September 15 and January 15.
• IRS, Understanding your Form 1099-K: Payment apps must send Form 1099-K when payments total over $20,000 in more than 200 transactions, and may send one for lower amounts.
• Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC: For tax years beginning after 2025 the reporting threshold for these payments rose to $2,000.
• IRS, Standard mileage rates: The 2026 business rate is 72.5 cents a mile from January 1 to June 30 and 76 cents a mile from July 1 to December 31.
• Rev. Proc. 2026-15, depreciation limits for passenger automobiles: Table 1: a passenger automobile placed in service in 2026 with bonus depreciation has a first-year limit of $20,300.
• IRS Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses: Commuting is personal; the standard rate must be chosen in the first year for an owned car and kept for a lease; no depreciation deduction in a standard-rate year; $20,200 first-year cap with bonus for a car placed in service in 2025; a weekly log is timely; no receipt is needed for expenses other than lodging under $75.
• IRS Tax Tip 2026-26, Filing tips and updates for gig economy workers: Gig workers may deduct up to $25,000 of qualified tips a year from 2025 through 2028, limited to net business income for the self-employed; equipment acquired after Jan. 19, 2025 used more than 50% for business can be fully deducted in the first year.
• IRS FS-2026-07, The Working Families Tax Cuts: what gig economy workers should know: For self-employed workers, tips must be reported on Form 1099-MISC, 1099-NEC or 1099-K to be eligible for the deduction.
• IRS fact sheet, Tax deductions for working Americans and seniors: The tips deduction phases out for modified AGI over $150,000 ($300,000 for joint filers).