While the above is a very thorough answer, it is a bit much for what an Uber Driver needs to know. So here’s the skinny…
You would be at a gross disadvantage if you chose to deduct your actual car maintenance expenses as indicated in the long post above. Uber drivers are better off (almost always) if the deduct the standard mileage rate. You can include detailing (cleaning) and car washes as added vehicle expenses. However if you use the standard mileage rate for a year, you cannot deduct your actual car expenses for that year. You cannot deduct depreciation, lease payments, maintenance and repairs, gasoline (including gasoline taxes), oil, insurance, or vehicle registration fees.
You can deduct the rental fee for an Uber phone but if you use your personal phone that’s a bit touchier… it would depend on the amount used for Uber vs your personal use. Water and gum you purchase for passengers yes, they are deductible as supplies.
Another thing Uber drivers need to be aware of is that the 1099-K (and 1099-MISC) you receive shows the total amount that Uber collected for your rides; it does not have their fees, commissions, safe rider fees or phone rental payments taken out. You need to deduct those as part of your business expenses along with the mileage you drove. If you didn't keep track of the mileage or the amounts Uber withheld (commissions etc) look on the 2014 Tax Information link on the payments page of your Uber driver account. There is a summary sheet linked at the bottom and it shows the fees they took out as well as the mileage for the trips (your mileage may actually be more as you drove around waiting for a hit.)
You will enter most of these expenses under Other Common Expenses on the business income and expenses page in TurboTax. When entering things look for the blue hyperlinks with tell me more. If you get really stuck, contact the TurboTax folks and they’ll walk you thru it.
For tracking your expenses , I suggest taking advantage of the free version of Quickbooks Self-Employment. You’ll find the link for this on the tax information page. The tax information page link you’ll find at the upper left of the Payments Page.
