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kmeadus1
New Member

As an Uber driver I realize I can deduct mileage driven with a customer in the car. If I go online and drive 50 miles and do NOT get a ride; can I deduct the 50 miles?

As an Uber driver I realize I can deduct the mileage that I drive with a customer in the car (pickup to dropoff).  Uber tracks that number.  Can I deduct mileage driving to a pickup?  What if I go online and drive 50 miles and do NOT get a ride; can I deduct the 50 miles?  What if I go online and set a destination; HOME.  Can I decduct the mileage from my regular job to HOME if I don't get a ride?  How can I calculate the ,mileage from when I ACCEPT a ride to when I pick up the customer?  Does anyone use a percentage of the actual "passenger-in-car" miles to calculate the OTHER miles?


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6 Replies

As an Uber driver I realize I can deduct mileage driven with a customer in the car. If I go online and drive 50 miles and do NOT get a ride; can I deduct the 50 miles?

Yes, Uber drivers can begin tracking miles as they leave their home to their first pick up if they have a home office.  If you drove 50 miles to pick up a customer and they change their mind, yes you can deduct that.  Just driving 50 miles without the objective of getting a customer is not deductible.  

You do not only track when a customer is in the car, you also track the mileage going to pick the customer up or going to buy items for your car, such as snacks for your customer.  However, you cannot get mileage from your regular job to home, only from the last customer to home.

Sample mileage recording;

1.  Get up in the morning with a customer wanting a pick up before you go to your job.  Write the address down where you are picking them up from and when you get in the car write your starting miles - drive to pick up the customer - take them where they are going and once they leave the car, record the address you took them to and the ending mileage on your car.  If you subtract the ending miles from the starting miles that is the miles you record for that trip.

2.  Now if you are going to your regular job or pick up another customer, again write starting mileage and starting address and once you get there, ending address and ending mileage. 

3.  At the end of the workday if you are at your regular job and going home, do not record those miles.  however, if you had a pick up before you go home, record those miles from your last pick up to your home.

At the end of the year, you will add up all your miles and put those on your tax return, remember, Uber only begins tracking miles once you pick a customer up so you could lose a lot of miles if you rely on that for your return.

Another tip; at the beginning of the year, record the mileage on your car and at the end of the year record your mileage.  Subtract the miles at the end of the year from miles at the beginning of the year.  That is your yearly mileage.  There are several apps etc that can help you track mileage easier, you can choose.

sankeks77
Returning Member

As an Uber driver I realize I can deduct mileage driven with a customer in the car. If I go online and drive 50 miles and do NOT get a ride; can I deduct the 50 miles?

Hello I have 25,950 miles on my uber online miles do I just put that number on my tax return. Is that enough for the IRS or do I need more proof than what UBER reported. These are my actual online miles. 

JohnW222
Expert Alumni

As an Uber driver I realize I can deduct mileage driven with a customer in the car. If I go online and drive 50 miles and do NOT get a ride; can I deduct the 50 miles?

As far as filing your return, you're fine just reporting your rideshare mileage.  You don't need to provide any proof of your mileage with your return.

Keep all of your relevant expense records for at least three years, though, just in case you should be audited.

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tmartin69
New Member

As an Uber driver I realize I can deduct mileage driven with a customer in the car. If I go online and drive 50 miles and do NOT get a ride; can I deduct the 50 miles?

On the Uber Tax summary  it states on line miles    does that Include driving to pick up client?

tmartin69
New Member

As an Uber driver I realize I can deduct mileage driven with a customer in the car. If I go online and drive 50 miles and do NOT get a ride; can I deduct the 50 miles?

On the Uber Tax summary it states on line miles does that Include driving to pick up client?

JosephF8
Expert Alumni

As an Uber driver I realize I can deduct mileage driven with a customer in the car. If I go online and drive 50 miles and do NOT get a ride; can I deduct the 50 miles?

You will have to contact Uber to determine what their tax summary includes.

 

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