Uber Driver Taxes: What You Owe and What You Can Deduct

When you drive for Uber, you are self-employed. Nobody withholds tax from your pay, so you owe income tax plus self-employment tax on your profit - and your biggest tool for cutting that profit is the miles you drive. This guide walks through the forms, the taxes, and the deductions, using verified 2026 IRS figures.

Figures in this guide are from IRS Notice on 2026 mileage rates, Self-Employment Tax, and the 2026 Form 1099-K threshold FAQs. This is general information, not tax advice.

Your tax status: independent contractor

Uber does not treat you as an employee. You are an independent contractor, which means Uber does not withhold any tax from what you make. You report your driving income and expenses on Schedule C (Profit or Loss From Business), and that profit flows onto your Form 1040. Because there is no employer taking taxes out along the way, the full bill lands on you at filing time - which is why the deductions and the quarterly payments below matter.

The forms: 1099-NEC, 1099-K, and the Uber Tax Summary

Uber may send you up to two tax forms, and one document that is not a tax form but matters just as much.

• 1099-NEC - reports non-driving income like referral and incentive payments. Uber issues it if these total $2,000 or more for 2026 (the threshold rose from $600 under the One Big Beautiful Bill).
• 1099-K - reports the money riders paid for your trips. For 2026, the federal reporting threshold reverted to more than $20,000 and more than 200 transactions. Some states set lower thresholds, and Uber may issue a 1099-K even if you fall under the federal line.
• Uber Tax Summary - not an IRS form. It is Uber's own breakdown of your gross earnings, the fees Uber took, and your miles. You use it to fill out Schedule C.

One trap: the amount on your 1099-K is gross. It includes the service fees and commissions Uber kept before paying you. You did not pocket that money, but you must report the gross figure and then deduct the fees (see below). Also remember: income is taxable whether or not a form shows up. No 1099 does not mean no tax.

Self-employment tax

This is the part that surprises new drivers. On top of income tax, you owe self-employment tax - your Social Security and Medicare contributions. As an employee, you and your employer split this. Self-employed, you pay both halves.

• The rate is 15.3%: 12.4% for Social Security plus 2.9% for Medicare.
• The 12.4% Social Security portion applies to earnings up to the 2026 wage base of $184,500. The 2.9% Medicare portion has no cap.
• You pay it on 92.35% of your net profit, not the full amount.
• You then deduct half of the self-employment tax on your Form 1040, which lowers your income tax.

The mileage deduction: your biggest lever

For most drivers, miles are the largest deduction by far. You have two methods and you pick one: the standard mileage rate or actual expenses (gas, repairs, insurance, depreciation). The standard rate is simpler and for a lot of rideshare drivers it wins. The 2026 standard mileage rate is 72.5 cents per business mile.

Now the part Uber will not do for you. Your deductible business miles are not only the miles with a passenger in the car. The IRS lets you deduct the miles you drive while working, which for rideshare generally break into three phases:

• P1 - online and waiting for a ride request (available for work).
• P2 - en route to pick up a rider after you accept.
• P3 - the trip itself, rider in the car.

Here is the catch: the miles Uber reports on your Tax Summary are typically your on-trip (P3) miles only. That number leaves out your P1 and P2 miles, which can be a large share of a shift. If you deduct only what Uber reports, you undercount your deductible miles and overpay. This is why your own mileage log - one that captures every mile from when you go online to when you go offline - usually beats Uber's figure. One thing that is not deductible: your commute, meaning the drive from home before you go online and the drive home after you go offline.

Worked example (illustrative). Say your Tax Summary shows $45,000 in gross earnings and your own log shows 30,000 business miles across the year:

• Mileage deduction: 30,000 x $0.725 = $21,750
• Net profit: $45,000 - $21,750 = $23,250 (before other deductions)
• Self-employment tax: $23,250 x 92.35% x 15.3% = about $3,285 (you can deduct roughly half of this)
• Income tax: charged on the profit, at your bracket, after other deductions and credits

If you had instead deducted only Uber's on-trip miles - say 18,000 - your deduction would drop to about $13,050 and your profit would jump to $31,950. Same driving, thousands of dollars more taxed, just because of which mileage number you used.

Other deductions

Beyond miles, you can deduct the ordinary costs of running your driving business. Common ones for Uber drivers:

• Uber service fees and commissions - the cut Uber kept. It is baked into your gross 1099-K, so deducting it is how you avoid paying tax on money you never received.
• The business-use share of your phone and data plan.
• Passenger extras - water, snacks, gum, phone chargers, cables.
• Car cleaning and washes, and tolls and parking paid while working.
• Fees like a dashcam or a rideshare-focused portion of accounting or tax-prep software.

Note: if you use the standard mileage rate, you do not separately deduct gas, oil, repairs, insurance, or depreciation - the 72.5 cents already covers those. Tolls, parking, phone, and service fees are still deductible on top of the standard rate.

Quarterly estimated taxes

Because no tax is withheld from your Uber pay, the IRS expects you to pay as you go through quarterly estimated tax payments. These cover both your income tax and your self-employment tax, and they are generally due in April, June, September, and January. Skip them and you can owe an underpayment penalty at filing time, even if you pay the full balance later. A common approach drivers use is to set aside a fixed percentage of each payout in a separate account so the quarterly bill does not come as a shock. How much to set aside depends on your total income and bracket, so check the IRS guidance or a tax professional for your situation.

Do I still owe tax if Uber never sent me a 1099?

Yes. All income is taxable whether or not a form is issued. The 1099-K and 1099-NEC thresholds decide when Uber must send paperwork, not whether the money counts. You are responsible for reporting your earnings either way, which is another reason to keep your own records.

Should I use standard mileage or actual expenses?

It depends on your car and your driving. High-mileage drivers with a fuel-efficient, paid-off car often come out ahead with the standard mileage rate. Drivers with an expensive vehicle, heavy repairs, or high insurance sometimes do better tracking actual expenses. If you want to choose the standard mileage rate, IRS rules generally require you to use it in the first year the car is in service, so it is worth deciding early.

What is the single most valuable habit?

Logging every business mile automatically. The gap between Uber's on-trip miles and your true P1-to-P3 miles is often the difference between a fair tax bill and an inflated one, and a contemporaneous log is also what backs you up if the IRS asks.

TruMile logs every mile automatically the moment you start driving - P1, P2, and P3 - so you claim the full deduction instead of Uber's on-trip number. See how TruMile works for Uber drivers.

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