[25rides7daysaweek]

You pay SS the same way as if you were self employed. which is about 15% of tje bottom line of your schedule C. The thing is that our bottom line is zero

My bottom line has never been zero
This is probably very much market dependent

 

[bobby747]

the b.s that you have no profit does not exist with big earner's as bonus's may come into play big quest's etc. no grow kids at home. must pay tax..that's an ok thing as we earn real profit.
the zero tax is when guys put ton's of miles on low pay per week -aka 1000 miles $1000 gross..example

 

[oldfart]

My bottom line has never been zero
This is probably very much market dependent

And how willing you are to use “creative accounting”

 

[25rides7daysaweek]

And how willing you are to use “creative accounting”

I wouldnt cheat on my taxes
I'm making a pretty decent amount of money
We all have to pay that's all there is to it
Wouldnt wanna end up like the branch davidians

 

[Diamondraider]

I'd rather invest it in hookers.

Memories of partying with hookers will last a lifetime.

So will the memory of getting screwed by Uber🤣

 

[DrvrChgo1]

Recently started driving for Uber a month ago. I track everything, as I ran a small business years ago where I normally took the standard mileage deduction vs. actual expenses on the vehicle. Std. deduction usually worked out best and my mileage was normally not significant. So, I got a little deduction. But now, as an uber driver, unless I am doing my figuring wrong or not remembering my schedule C's correctly, if I take my mileage driven daily, multiply it times the new 2023 rate of 0.655, the vehicle NEVER shows a profit. EVER. How can that be even possible. Unless the big inner city drivers (I'm in a smaller metro area, pop. 479k) are making a ton more money, most Uber drivers are gauranteed to never have to pay taxes? The bad side is then after so many none profit years, you are done, not to mention, you get no credits for social security. For example, I drove 206 miles last night, made 131.65 and when you run (206*0.655), that comes out to $134.93 which is a -3.28 dollar loss. Almost every night is a loss, and I am including tips (I think you don't have to count those, which in that case, every night will be a loss.) At this rate I will drive about 48,000 miles and have a tax write off of $31,440 dollars. I will not make that much in earnings, yet, I am making money after gas and supplies, etc. The mileage rate is wrong, or are my figures?

Answers on wear and tear on the vehicle, etc., are erroneous in my opinion, as they make it look like you never turn a profit. You do. Will you tear up you car, maybe. But the fact remains, I have actual profit in hand and the mileage deduction erroneously shows otherwise. OR am I figuring wrong?

/QUOTE]


A few years of not showing any taxable income might not even effect your Social Security. You only need a min of 40 credits to be social security eligible.
Also, your SS retirement benefit amount is based on your LIFETIME earnings. Your lifetime earnings are based on your 35 highest earning years of work ONLY. If you have worked more than 35 years at your time of retirement they “throw out”all the lowest years when calculating your benefit. So if you have worked 45 years when you retire, the 10 lowest earning years aren’t even factored into your benefit calculation.

Many people also mistakingly think that those amounts they pay in Self Employment Tax and the Social Security withholding on their W-2 paycheck stub are all going into their own Social Security fund or are directly determining how much Social Securitu they will receive. They aren’t.

 

[gv932n]

Run Lyft and Uber simultaneously, either on the same device or on two devices. Field trips and judge accordingly.

You are looking at this entirely wrong.
I drove for three years and although I had other income, I never paid taxes.
Here is a simple answer using "O" figures.
If you drove 206 miles that is a $134.93 credit as you said.
You made $131.65 that night.
The tax on 131.65 is probably less than $30.
There are two ways to do your taxes.
1. Expenses......... Car expenses, and other expenses not related to car.
2. Mileage............Mileage expense and other expenses not related to car.
You can use one or the other, but not both.

HERE IS THE IMPORTANT THING AND ALL RIDE-SHARE DRIVERS SHOULD UNDERSTAND IT.

The tax on what you made is less than $30, BUT you had a CREDIT of 134.93.
That wipes out your taxes owed and you made over $100. (you are confusing paid income versus taxed income..

I drove a Prius because it was great on gas and it was reliable. My car expenses never exceeded my mileage credit. The mileage credit the IRS is calculated on a traditional car. So unless you are using a V8 junker, your car expenses won't exceed the IRS credit.

Here is some tips:
1. You should use a spreadsheet to capture your data monthly.
2. At the end of the year add your monthly spreadsheets to a total spreadsheet and you are ready to do your taxes.
3. Use TurboTax to do your taxes. It's simple and it's less than $100 for "Home and Business" version. (deductible)
The following years it becomes easier to do taxes because it stores your data. An accountant would ask you for the data compiled as I have done in a spreadsheet, so why pay them.

I have included my yearly spreadsheet from 2018. (I worked part time.)

Date Total Miles Trips Paid Tolls Expenses Hours UberTips Tips Uber2018.0103.0119 1024.00​ 76.00​ 852.76​ 10.00​ 241.88​ 38.00​ 25.52​ 15.00​ Uber2018.0209.0302 1497.10​ 86.00​ 981.64​ 67.71​ 371.06​ 51.50​ 40.75​ 22.00​ Uber2018.0306.0328 1527.90​ 111.00​ 961.63​ 40.85​ 278.85​ 19.00​ 33.27​ 19.00​ Uber2018.0404.0427 1713.70​ 99.00​ 861.47​ 54.55​ 485.12​ 51.00​ 48.00​ 8.00​ Uber2018.0430.0601 1882.30​ 156.00​ 1360.47​ 90.80​ 1110.08​ 78.00​ 46.00​ 49.00​ Uber2018.0604.0629 1365.00​ 122.00​ 1056.29​ 70.00​ 245.46​ 63.20​ 52.00​ 10.00​ Uber2018.0702.0727 1652.80​ 104.00​ 1034.16​ 70.00​ 456.15​ 59.50​ 90.00​ 12.00​ Uber2018.0730.0831 1877.50​ 148.00​ 1344.13​ 85.35​ 274.77​ 74.45​ 91.53​ 38.00​ Uber2018.0903.0928 1489.50​ 134.00​ 56.90​ 368.79​ 59.35​ 75.38​ 2.00​ Uber2018.1001.1102 1151.90​ 80.00​ 731.72​ 110.03​ 287.04​ 37.50​ 40.00​ 15.00​ Uber2018.1119.1130 743.20​ 24.00​ 396.18​ 31.00​ 212.51​ 15.30​ 21.00​ 20.00​ Uber2018.1203.1231 1828.70​ 75.00​ 943.54​ 85.55​ 274.54​ 55.50​ 53.00​ 10.00​ 17753.60​ 1215.00​ 10523.99​ 772.74​ 4606.25​ 602.30​ 616.45​ 220.00​ IRS Credit = .545 Paid Tax(25%) 9675.712​ 11360.44​ 2840.11​ Notice the tax of $2840 is much less than the credit.
	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​

 

[Atom guy]

I am not sure why there are any complaints that drivers show no profits on their tax forms. How is it bad to owe $0 in taxes? Meanwhile you cash flowed all your weekly earnings, paid all your bills with it, and didn't pay any taxes. What exactly is the problem?

 

[oldfart]

I wouldnt cheat on my taxes
I'm making a pretty decent amount of money
We all have to pay that's all there is to it
Wouldnt wanna end up like the branch davidians

Im dont advocate cheating, but I will say, when in doubt deduct. For example, I take the home office deduction, You could argue that I dont need an office at all, and the IRS might disallow it in an audit, but I take the deduction anyway. And since I have an office, I need office supplies too, so I deduct a little each year for office supplies.

 

[25rides7daysaweek]

Im dont advocate cheating, but I will say, when in doubt deduct. For example, I take the home office deduction, You could argue that I dont need an office at all, and the IRS might disallow it in an audit, but I take the deduction anyway. And since I have an office, I need office supplies too, so I deduct a little each year for office supplies.

My offices are my car and the bathroom
I'm already writing off all the miles I need

 

[Civicdriver]

Just got my uber and lyft tax forms.
Looks like my documented mileage puts me $400 in the minus.
Tax problem solved.🤑

 

[tkman]

The tax on what you made is less than $30, BUT you had a CREDIT of 134.93.
That wipes out your taxes owed and you made over $100. (you are confusing paid income versus taxed income..

​

I agree with what you are saying however, there is a cost for the vehicle that you are not accounting for. The .545 is valid when taking in all costs, purchase price depreciated over 10 years, tire wear, brakes, oil changes, insurance, license fees, etc. It adds up and is not taken into account in your $100 after tax profit. The extra expense is helpfu lif you have other income you are trying to write off against. The problem with this is the time to make that extra writeoff. If you have the option to work overtime at your regular job at regular rates this usually ends up earning you more than the same number of hours spent driving Uber and taking advantage of the writeoff. Uber is not for making real money. It is done to be busy, avoid sitting at home, and when desparate because you are unable to find other work. I believe in most cases if you can manage to get a regular job you will be better off.

 

[painfreepc]

I agree with what you are saying however, there is a cost for the vehicle that you are not accounting for. The .545 is valid when taking in all costs, purchase price depreciated over 10 years, tire wear, brakes, oil changes, insurance, license fees, etc. It adds up and is not taken into account in your $100 after tax profit. The extra expense is helpfu lif you have other income you are trying to write off against. The problem with this is the time to make that extra writeoff. If you have the option to work overtime at your regular job at regular rates this usually ends up earning you more than the same number of hours spent driving Uber and taking advantage of the writeoff. Uber is not for making real money. It is done to be busy, avoid sitting at home, and when desparate because you are unable to find other work. I believe in most cases if you can manage to get a regular job you will be better off.

It took me awhile to realize it but this thrend is not about actually making money it's about showing profit on your taxes supposedly that profit goes towards your social security benefits when you retire and take social security.