Edited 01/27/2017 6:17 AM PT)
Working as a ride-share driver for
Uber and Lyft is considered "s
elf-employment"
income. The "net profit" is subject to income tax and self-employment tax.
You can use TurboTax Deluxe to report Uber income, but not expenses. Because TurboTax has a "Maximum Refund" guarantee, you will have to use TurboTax Self-Employed to report any expenses, i.e., check for all the allowable deductions against your Uber/Lyft income.
If you are starting in TurboTax Free, Deluxe or Premier, enter the your Uber income information as a Form 1099-MISC in the Income from Form 1099-MISC interview under Federal Taxes > Wages and Income > 1099-MISC and Other Common Income. Do this even if you received a Form 1099-K.
Continue with the interview, and enter $1 in Box 7 of the 1099-MISC interview,
You will come to the screen that asks why you were doing this.
If you want to claim expenses, select “Yes, it involved an intent to earn money”. The program will prompt you to upgrade to TurboTax Self -Employed After upgrading you will need to complete the Business Income and Expenses Schedule C, Form 1099-MISC interview under the Business tab
If you don't want to claim expenses, select “No, it did not involve an intent to earn money”. If you are in TurboTax Free Federal, the program will prompt you to upgrade to TurboTax Deluxe. If you are in another version TurboTax (Deluxe or higher), the interview will continue and prepare a Form Schedule C or C-EZ
Later in the interview, you will have a chance to enter the amounts reported on Form 1099-K (Did John get cash or other income for Uber/Lyft Driver? If John had Uber/Lyft Driver income that wasn't on a 1099-MISC or W-2, like cash, personal checks and credit card payments, enter the amounts below.) This is where you enter the full amounts for the 1099-Ks.
After completing your income and expense entries, you can (but don’t have to) delete the Form 1099-MISC you entered earlier (with $1 income). All of your income and expense information will now be on a Schedule C-EZ. Leaving the Form 1099-MISC in your return should not cause any problems, since the amount is immaterial ($1).
Finally, the correct Business Code for "Uber/Lyft ride-share services", is 485900 (Other transit & ground passenger transportation).
For another discussion on how to enter Uber/Lyft income and additional information, see the following TurboTax FAQ:
https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/5262468
