Mileage Deduction for Uber and Lyft Drivers: A Complete Tax Guide

Which miles are deductible for rideshare drivers?

As an Uber or Lyft driver, you are classified as an independent contractor. That makes you self-employed, and self-employed individuals can deduct all ordinary and necessary business expenses, including mileage.

Your deductible miles fall into three phases:

Phase 1: Online and waiting. From the moment you turn on the driver app until you accept a ride, you are working. Miles driven while repositioning, heading to a busy area, or simply cruising while available all count.

Phase 2: En route to pickup. After you accept a ride request, the miles you drive to reach the passenger are deductible. This is often the longest part of a trip and is frequently overlooked.

Phase 3: Trip in progress. The miles from pickup to drop-off are the obvious ones. Uber and Lyft track these for you, but only these.

The critical point is that Uber and Lyft only report Phase 3 miles in their annual tax summaries. Phases 1 and 2, often called deadheading, can account for 40% or more of your total driving. You need to track those yourself.

What about the drive to and from home?

This is the leg drivers most often get wrong. The IRS treats travel between your home and your first and last stop of the day as commuting, unless your home is your principal place of business: a home office you use regularly and exclusively for the rideshare business, including its admin. Without one, the drive from home to where you go online, and from your last drop-off back home, is personal.

Once the app is on and you are heading to a pickup, waiting in a zone or repositioning, you are working, and those miles are business miles. For more on how the IRS separates business miles from commuting, see business miles vs commuting miles.

A rideshare shift record, leg by leg

Here is one Saturday on Uber and Lyft, recorded the way the IRS expects:

Business miles for the shift: 30.6. The Uber and Lyft summaries together show only the two passenger trips, 23.2 miles. The other 7.4 business miles, driving to pickups and repositioning, exist only in your own log.

Reconcile every month: add up the passenger miles from both apps’ tax summaries, compare them with the business miles in your log, and check that the difference is made up of pickup and waiting legs. Unlike delivery driving, where a large share of miles runs between restaurants and customers with no passenger on board, rideshare apps at least report every passenger mile, so the unpaid legs are easier to spot.

How much is the mileage deduction worth?

The IRS standard mileage rate is 76 cents per mile, effective July 1, 2026. Miles driven January 1 through June 30, 2026 are worth 72.5 cents each, and if you are still squaring away a 2025 return, that year’s rate was 70 cents (IRS standard mileage rates).

Here is what the current rate translates to for different driving levels:

*Estimated at 27% combined tax rate (income tax + self-employment tax), with every mile at the current 76-cent rate.

A full-time driver’s actual 2026 math

Rideshare drivers cover enough ground that the mid-year rate change makes a real difference, and your 2026 return has to reflect both rates. Take a full-time driver who logged 30,000 business miles spread evenly across the year:

• 15,000 miles driven Jan 1 – Jun 30 x $0.725 = $10,875
• 15,000 miles driven Jul 1 – Dec 31 x $0.76 = $11,400
• Total mileage deduction: $22,275

At a 27% combined rate, that is roughly $6,014 in tax savings — about $6,000 for keeping a log. It is $525 short of the flat 76-cent figure in the table, because the first half of the year was never worth 76 cents a mile. Run the two halves separately and the number holds up.

A full-time rideshare driver can save over $6,000 per year just from the mileage deduction. That is a significant number, and it is entirely dependent on having a complete, date-stamped mileage log.

Understanding 1099-K and 1099-NEC

Uber and Lyft report your earnings to the IRS using tax forms:

• 1099-K reports your gross ride payments. Starting in 2024, the IRS threshold is $5,000 in payments. This amount includes Uber and Lyft’s commission, so it is higher than what you actually received.
• 1099-NEC may be issued for non-ride income like bonuses or referral payments over $600.

The key thing to understand: these forms report gross income, not net profit. Your expenses, including mileage, come off on Schedule C.

Filing your taxes on Schedule C

As a self-employed rideshare driver, you file Schedule C (Profit or Loss from Business) with your personal Form 1040. Here is where everything comes together:

1. Line 1: Report your gross income from rideshare driving
2. Line 9: Enter your car and truck expenses (your mileage deduction)
3. Lines 10-27: Other deductible expenses (phone, supplies, etc.)
4. Line 31: Your net profit (or loss), which is what you actually owe taxes on

Your net profit from Schedule C flows to two places: your regular income tax calculation and the self-employment tax calculation (Schedule SE). The mileage deduction reduces both.

Quarterly estimated tax payments

The IRS expects you to pay taxes throughout the year, not just at filing time. If you expect to owe $1,000 or more, you need to make quarterly estimated payments.

The four quarterly due dates are:

• Q1: April 15
• Q2: June 15
• Q3: September 15
• Q4: January 15 (following year)

To calculate each payment, estimate your quarterly earnings, subtract your mileage deduction and other expenses, and apply your tax rate. Keeping a running mileage total helps you estimate accurately and avoid underpayment penalties.

Other deductions rideshare drivers can claim

Beyond mileage, you can deduct other business expenses on Schedule C:

• Phone bill (business-use percentage only)
• Phone mount, charger, and accessories
• Water and snacks for passengers
• Cleaning supplies for your vehicle
• Parking and tolls related to rideshare driving
• Safety equipment (dash cam, first aid kit)

Remember: if you use the standard mileage rate, you cannot separately deduct gas, oil changes, insurance, or car repairs. Those are included in the per-mile rate. If you think your actual vehicle costs might be higher, check our standard mileage rate vs actual expenses comparison.

Multi-App Drivers. If you drive for Uber, Lyft, and delivery apps like DoorDash simultaneously, all miles while any app is active are deductible. You do not need to split miles between platforms. Just make sure your total mileage log is accurate.

What records does the IRS require?

The IRS requires “contemporaneous” mileage records. That means logging trips at or near the time they happen, not reconstructing them months later at tax time. Your log must include:

• Date of each trip
• Destination or route
• Business purpose (rideshare driving)
• Miles driven

For the complete breakdown of what the IRS expects, see our IRS mileage log requirements guide.

The simplest way to track rideshare miles

Manual logging is impractical for rideshare drivers. You might complete 15 to 20 trips in a single shift, and writing down each one is not realistic. That is where automatic tracking comes in.

Tripbook runs silently on your iPhone, recording every trip via GPS in the background. After your shift, open the app and swipe to classify trips as business or personal. At tax time, export your complete log as a PDF, CSV, or XLS report with all the details the IRS requires.

The free plan covers 20 trips per month. For active drivers who need unlimited tracking, Premium is $6.99 per month, a tiny fraction of the thousands you save in deductions.

Start saving on your next shift

Every untracked mile is a missed deduction, and at 76 cents each they add up faster than they used to. For a full-time rideshare driver, that could mean leaving $6,000 or more on the table each year.

Download Tripbook free on the App Store and let it track your miles automatically while you focus on driving.