Who Qualifies for Mileage Deductions
You qualify if you receive 1099-NEC or 1099-K income from platforms like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, Instacart, or Amazon Flex. As an independent contractor, you report income and deductions on Schedule C (Form 1040). Employees who receive W-2 wages cannot deduct unreimbursed mileage on Schedule C.
What Miles Are Deductible vs Not
| Trip Type | Deductible? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Driving to pick up an order or passenger | Yes | Business miles from first pickup |
| Delivering order/passenger to destination | Yes | Core business activity |
| Driving between gigs while logged in | Yes | Often the most undercounted miles |
| Driving to busy zones or surge areas | Yes | Positioning for work |
| Driving home at end of shift | No | Commuting — unless you have a home office |
| Personal errands while logged out | No | Not business-related |
Deductible vs non-deductible miles for gig drivers.
Standard Mileage vs Actual Expenses
Most gig drivers use the standard mileage method: multiply Jan-Jun business miles by 72.5¢ and Jul-Dec miles by 76¢. The rate covers gas, maintenance, insurance, and depreciation in one figure. You only need a mileage log.
The actual expense method requires tracking every vehicle cost (fuel, repairs, insurance, depreciation) and multiplying by the business-use percentage. This can produce a larger deduction if you drive an expensive car with high repair costs, but the recordkeeping is much heavier.
Critical rule: if you own the car, you must use the standard mileage rate in the first year of business use if you want to preserve the option to switch methods later. Once you use actual expenses in year one for that vehicle, you are locked in.
Why Most Gig Drivers Undercount Miles
Platform apps typically only track trip distance — miles with a passenger or active delivery. But gig drivers can deduct all miles while logged in and available for trips. This includes: deadhead miles between trips, driving to a busier neighborhood after a drop-off, driving to a gas station or car wash during a shift.
If you drive 20,000 miles in a year but only track the 12,000 trip miles the platform reports, you are leaving roughly 8,000 miles of deductions on the table — worth $5,800 if those miles fall in Jan-Jun or $6,080 if they fall in Jul-Dec.
Other Deductions Gig Workers Should Know
Self-employment tax deduction: deduct 50% of the 15.3% self-employment tax on Schedule 1.
QBI deduction: deduct up to 20% of net business income under IRC §199A.
Phone and data: deduct the business-use percentage of your monthly bill.
Tolls and parking: deductible on top of the standard mileage rate.
Equipment: hot bags, phone mounts, dashcams, chargers — 100% deductible.
Mileage tracking app subscriptions: Stride, Everlance, MileIQ, Driversnote — deductible as a business expense.
Mileage Log Requirements
The IRS requires contemporaneous mileage records — logs created at or near the time of each trip. A recent Tax Court ruling (Khan v. Commissioner, 2025) confirmed that reconstructed logs from platform data alone do not meet the standard.
Each log entry must include: date of trip, destination, business purpose, and miles driven. A mileage tracking app that automatically captures GPS data is the most defensible approach. Keep logs for at least 3 years from the filing date.