Uber Taxes: 2014 Tax Summary and Deducting Fees
[This post is merely for informational purposes only and cannot be taken for actual tax advice. Speak to your local licensed tax preparer before making any decisions about your own tax liability.]
Update: The updated post for 2015 is here.
So I have been reading quite a bit about 1099s and various fees other companies put on their 1099s. The most “popular” source of 1099 has come from Paypal. Every power seller on Ebay uses Paypal and these sellers get 1099s as well. If you consider Paypal and Uber/Lyft/Sidecar as a whole from a 1099 standpoint, there isn’t much difference between them. You get paid from credit card transactions (Paypal can accept payments from bank accounts as well) and both companies charges various fees. If you sell on Ebay, you have various listing fees and then Paypal fees on top of that. There is also an issue with refunds. Paypal (by the rules of the IRS) has to report the gross transactions and doesn’t account for returns and refunds of associated fees. Also, these fees are not listed on the 1099-K from Paypal, but you can get them from a CSV file of all of your transactions but you will have to dig through all of that.
Now switching back to Uber, they have release the Tax Summary page for year 2014. It was live yesterday but no one was able to get in. I checked this morning and it finally started working. [Note, this is not the official 1099 forms all Uber drivers will get but a great summary of what we will be getting in our email from Track1099 soon.]. There are a few ways to get to the tax summary page:
- Use this direct link to the tax summary page: Tax Summary
- You can go to the Payment Statements tab and click on the blue button that says Tax Summary [The button is in a slight different place if view on a desktop computer]:
Your Tax Summary For 2014
Its going to look something like this, but without the numbers all rubbed out:
Calculating your Taxable Income
So you can see your gross fares (with Uber Fee), and then a list of fees. The total amount just how much on paper you got paid, but in actuality its quite a bit less than that because of all the fees. So here is what your taxable income would be:
Gross Fares – Tolls – Split Fare Fee – Safe Rides Fee – Uber Phone Fee – Uber Fee = Taxable Income.
For those drivers with over $600 worth of passenger or driver referrals, you’ll see that number under 1099-MISC. At this time, I am unsure if Uber Hourly Guarantees or other direct miscellaneous payments from Uber (cleaning fee, cancellations) are included under 1099-MISC, but it looks like it is. I only have one line, but I ended up getting a very odd number for total of Referrals, which don’t make sense as its at least in increments of 5. How did I get 51 cents from a passenger or driver referral?
Mileage Deduction?
For drivers who didn’t keep good track of their mileage for 2014, they may be able to claim the “on-trip mileage” directly from Uber as an extra deduction. Being that there isn’t a more detailed record of it, you may not be able to use it when figuring out your taxes so speak with your local tax preparer about this.
Estimated Taxes
If you earned more than $6000 this year from Uber, you may owe estimated taxes. If you are unfamiliar with estimated taxes, you can either view this post or speak with your local tax preparer.
Need More Help?
For additional tax resources, check out my newly launched online course for Uber, Lyft and Sidecar Taxes!
Have more questions about Uber or Lyft? Head on over to our Rideshare Driver Training Course! Driver Promotions- New Uber Drivers will get up to a $800 bonus after signing up: Sign up for Uber.
- New Lyft Drivers will get up to $800 if you sign up here using this link.
