Uber drivers file as self-employed sole proprietors and report rideshare income on Schedule C (Profit or Loss From Business), attached to their Form 1040.
Income (Schedule C Part I): Report gross receipts on Line 1. If you received a 1099-K, use that gross amount. If you received a 1099-NEC, use Box 1. If you received neither (earnings below the reporting threshold), report total earnings from your bank deposits or Uber driver dashboard. All rideshare income is taxable regardless of whether a 1099 was issued.
Top deductions for Uber drivers:
- Line 9 — Car and truck expenses: The 2026 IRS standard mileage rate is 72.5 cents/mile (IRS Notice 2026-10). Multiply total business miles × $0.725. Business miles include trip miles (pickup to dropoff), deadhead miles (driving to pickup), and any other driving done for your rideshare business. Maintain a contemporaneous mileage log: date, destination, business purpose, and miles per trip.
- Line 10 — Commissions and fees: Uber's service fee (typically 25% of gross fare) is deductible here. If you're reporting net earnings (CSV earnings column) as income rather than gross fares, skip this line — the commission is already excluded.
- Line 25 — Utilities: Phone and data plan, multiplied by your business-use percentage.
- Line 27 — Other expenses: Car washes, roadside assistance, dashcam, parking and tolls paid out-of-pocket, and accounting fees.
Uber CSV import for mileage:
Uber provides a downloadable trip history CSV from drivers.uber.com with a distance column (trip route miles) and a unique trip id. ExpenseBot imports this CSV and creates both mileage log entries (for Schedule C Line 9) and income entries (for Line 1) automatically. The id column prevents re-import duplicates.
Self-employment tax: Schedule C net profit is subject to SE tax at 15.3% (12.4% Social Security + 2.9% Medicare) on net earnings up to the Social Security wage base. The deductible portion of SE tax (50%) reduces your AGI on Schedule 1 Line 15.
1099-K threshold 2026: $20,000 (OBBBA, signed July 4, 2025, reinstated the original threshold — the temporary $5,000 threshold does not apply for 2026).