ATTENTION: Drivers for Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Grubhub, Shipt, Uber Eats, etc…
How do I track business miles?
Any time you are using your vehicle for delivery or transporting paying riders, those are business miles.
There must be intent to deliver or pick up riders. The moment you accept an order or rider, the miles you drive both to the restaurant/store or rider and then to the customer or rider’s destination all count as business miles. You stop tracking the moment you head off for a personal errand or when you drop off your last delivery or rider.
Any miles driven in-between restaurant/store and customer count. Any miles driven from the point you drop off to a customer back to a busier area where you can get orders count.
As long as you are moving from one delivery or rider pick up to another, you can track it all as one trip. You do not need to keep a separate log of every trip. You might want to record every delivery to evaluate when and where deliveries or rider pick-ups are most profitable.
When you rely on your car for your business, miles related to the maintenance of your car (to get gas for delivery, to the garage for maintenance or repair, to the store for car-related items) can be counted.
Here are some other common expenses you may be able to deduct:
Parking and tolls. Parking fees and tolls related to your work.
Mobile phone. You can deduct 100% of the cost of a separate phone used just for delivery/transporting driving. If you use your phone for both work and personal needs, you'll need to split your deduction between business and personal use.
Supplies. Hot bags or blankets for keeping food deliveries warm, courier backpacks, phone chargers, and dashboard mounting systems.
Roadside assistance. You can deduct a percentage of your annual membership fee based on the percentage of miles you drive for work.
Commissions and fees. If they charge a commission, you can typically deduct the fees paid to the platform.
Interest. Your car loan interest payments.
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