No 1099 from Uber. Do I report Gross Trip earnings or Net Trip Earnings?

[2011techsavy]

For this tax season, I did not meet any of the qualifications for a 1099 from Uber and instead got a Tax Summary. When reporting my income as additional income, do I use Gross Trip income or Net Trip income. It really is not that clear as to which one to use. Gross is obviously everything earned, not including fees, while Net has everything minus mileage taken off. I have a feeling it is Gross that I use, but I want to be sure.

[KatrinaB]

Please enter your gross trip income, then deduct your business expenses. TurboTax will calculate the net income.

[amaidi]

But this confuses me, am I paying taxes on money I didn't receive? For me the Gross Earnings was ~$1400, but the only money that reached my bank account was ~$820, does this mean I'm paying taxes for the extra ~$580 (which I assume were fees, taxes, and Uber's cost) that I never received?

[vcatalan18]

go on tax summary for a breakdown of the taxes you paid to uber etc

[aimieherriman]

my net also does not match up?
the breakdown does not help

[ehoogland]

Disagree with the preferred answer. As a cash-basis taxpayer we report income received. Only an accrual-basis taxpayer would be obligated to report this income as earned, then deduct. This is dicier if we receive a 1099 wherein the vendor reports the income. In that case I feel the wiser course would be to use accrual-based accounting and take the deductions.

Bottom line: it may be advantageous to work for both Uber and Lyft and thereby avoid the 1099 threshold of either company. An exception would be if you want to pay (more) self-employment taxes in order to secure more social security income upon retirement or disability.

[femalegirlmechan]

I earned $9,000 and according to Uber I earned $15,000. I'm already behind $6,000. This is mind blowing. I owe taxes on money I didn't set up for to remove taxes from. I think Uber should pay taxes on the money I made for them and I pay taxes on ONLY the money that gets added to my account.

[vidgames]

Well, you actually earned the $15,000, but Uber takes out fees and such that reduce it to $9,000 (the actual money you get in your bank account). It's better doing it that way than sending you the $15,000 and requesting that you send $6,000 for the fees...it's less messy for Uber to deduct the fees right after the work is done. But it does make it more confusing when it comes to tax time, but rest assured you're not paying taxes on Uber's fees: You report that you got the full $15,000 and then deduct the $6,000 as a business expense (that you're not taxed on), so you're only paying taxes on the $9,000.

[thanosdevine]

  I have been saying this since the first tax season

with uber. As an uber driver, I have to fill in the total amount

the customer pays, but I never receive that amount, since

uber  takes 28% right off the top.  That 28% never shows up in my

bank account.  When tax season comes, I have to lie to the irs, on

uber's behalf, to tax me for much more money than I actually

made.   This is the kind of voodoo accounting that uber

has been using successfully for some time, and the only reason

no one says anything is taxes are so confusing, that most people

feel lucky to survive filing their own taxes successfully, to bother

with the tax woes of others.  

   It's important to remember, that when big corporations like uber 

scam the government, their scamming all of us.  The next time you 

see an uber executive riding around in a fancy car, remember that

you helped pay for it.

[Rainman12]

Not a 'scam' It's YOUR responsibility to track and deduct YOUR expenses, which includes Uber fees charged. If you can't track what's deducted from Gross (reported) pay, then You are incapable of filing a self-prepared return - which is all TurboTax (or any other) software can offer. IRS offers Many levels of free aids for the self-employed. Try https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/self-employed-individuals-tax-center 

[pennythief]

Agree with this. If that money went into bank accounts, the actual worker could be investing that money and accruing interest or otherwise improving their financial situation. I don't understand why this is a legal way for a business to do this.

[BillM223]

I would report your gross earnings as if it were reported on the 1099-MISC, box 7.

Then I would subtract what you actually received from Uber and enter that as an expense under the "commissions" category - in this case, the $6,000 that Uber kept.

In this way, you will not be taxed on the $6,000 that you never saw and this would more accurately reflect the actual operation of your business.

This is true even for cash-based businesses like the average Uber driver (and a large percentage of all sole proprietorships).

[femalegirlmechan]

For Rainman12:

You do not get to tell me that I am not capable of doing my own tax return. I've BEEN doing them since 1979. Second, I asked a legitimate question as this was my first time filing under ride share. THIS was new, I asked a question and you don't need to be a rude jerk about it. There was no 1099, just a printed page like school homework. If you cannot give a legitimate answer without being a jerk, don't answer it.

[DoninGA]

---

@femalegirlmechan wrote:

For Rainman12:

You do not get to tell me that I am not capable of doing my own tax return. I've BEEN doing them since 1979. Second, I asked a legitimate question as this was my first time filing under ride share. THIS was new, I asked a question and you don't need to be a rude jerk about it. There was no 1099, just a printed page like school homework. If you cannot give a legitimate answer without being a jerk, don't answer it.

---

Just so you know @Rainman12 was not answering your question or referring to you at all.  He was answering another post from over 8 months ago as shown by the date of his post, July 3, 2019.

Sometimes these long threads can be confusing even for us that volunteer on the this forum daily.

[MikeyJuana]

Im confused as well.  I have been working in real estate for years and moved to CA last year to get my license and drove with Uber a lot last year.  I am an independent contractor with both, so why shouldn't the 1099 be based on net earnings, those I receive?   I would think the earnings would be the same but my 1099 from real estate always shows net earnings (The firm I park my license at takes its cut and deposits my cut in my account) So my 1099 reflects only net earnings.   Though Uber doesn't do it that way.  I guess I will take the gross earning fdeduct all the other fees and also try to do another tax return showing 1099 as net earnings to see if there is a difference.