If I drive 40 miles with uber before I get a ride request are those miles tax deductible?

[jimmys005]

I've been trying to get an answer to my question that's related to this comment. What number of miles is considered excessive when repositioning oneself for more rider opportunities?  I have a choice of driving to locations that are 70 and 100 miles from my home. I don't mind driving and paying for gas upfront, but I couldn't afford it if I couldn't  get the money back as a deduction. Thanks.

[virjonbrahimllari]

Uber starts tracking the miles for you from the moment you go online and starts accepting fares. No matter how far you have to travel from home ,if you are accepting fares you are working and those miles are deductible

[Critter-3]

Per the IRS rules ... the miles from your home to your first job and from the last job back home  are not deductible ... those are personal commuting costs.

NOW ... if you can set up a verifyable "Office In Home"   then all the miles once you leave your "Place Of Business"  would be business miles ... read up on those rules here :  https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-8829

[virjonbrahimllari]

I think you dont understand how uber works. Uber drivers place of work is in the car (car could be home , gas station, etc) so they dont have to drive to work. From the moment they are online waiting for fares they are on the clock working and all the miles they do while online are deductible.

[NCperson]

@virjonbrahimllari - you don't understand how the IRS works! While Uber may track your mileage from the time the driver goes online, that doesn't mean they are all deductible.  The IRS makes the rules on what is deductible - not Uber.

look at the illustration on page 12 of this IRS publication

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p463.pdf

across the middle is a line from home to main job "never deductible".  that is the point that from home until an uber driver picks up the FIRST client is 'never deductible" (and same thing for last client to home.

[virjonbrahimllari]

I understand the IRS rule , and with uber you don't have to drive to get to work, all you have to do is go online and you are working. Some drivers live in remote locations where there are little requests so they have to drive to the city for more trips. This is not driving from home to work this is driving while at work, driving to the next trip. As long as they drive to the city and they are online, they are working.

[NCperson]

@virjonbrahimllari - IRS rules do not permit deduction of the mileage from home to pick up of the 1st client.... it has nothing to do with 'working'; it's simply the IRS rules as they define that mileage as "commuting", even if you are doing work!  Regardless of your definition of 'working' or UBER's definition of "working" , you simply can not deduct the miles from home to the 1st client.    

From your definition, how can you be "working" if you are not getting paid? you can't be paid until you pick up that 1st client....and again, from home to the first client (and from the last client to home when you are also not getting paid) is "commuting" by the IRS definition. 

did you look at the schematic I posted in the last post?  THAT is the way the IRS looks at it.... and that is all that matters.  How you or Uber or I look at it is immaterial.  what is material, is how the IRS looks at it.  and it's not deductible at it is 'commuting' time by the IRS defintion!!!