Uber & DoorDash Tax Deductions (2026): What Drivers Can Write Off

Mileage deduction calculator

Uses the IRS standard mileage rates for 2026. Count business miles only; see which miles count.

Quick list: what drivers can deduct

“Yes, as other expenses” means our calculators don’t figure it for you, but you can add it in the “Other business expenses” field. Line numbers are from the IRS forms and instructions for tax year 2025 (Schedule 1, line 15 from the 2026 Form 1040-ES) and can change for 2026.

Sources: IRS Instructions for Schedule C (2025), IRS Publication 463, IRS Form 1040-ES (2026, PDF), IRS Instructions for Form 8995, IRS Schedule 1-A (2025, PDF), IRS Publication 334

Mileage: standard rate or actual expenses

You can generally figure your car deduction one of two ways: the standard mileage rate, or your actual car expenses. If you qualify for both, the IRS suggests figuring it both ways to see which is larger.

The 2026 standard mileage rates

• 72.5¢ per mile for business miles driven January 1, 2026 to June 30, 2026
• 76¢ per mile for business miles driven July 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026

Choosing a method

• A car you own: to use the standard rate, you must choose it in the first year the car is available for use in your business. In later years you can use either method.
• A leased car: if you choose the standard rate, you must use it for the entire lease period.
• With the standard rate, you can’t also deduct actual car expenses for that year: depreciation, lease payments, maintenance and repairs, gasoline, oil, insurance or registration fees.
• You can’t use the standard rate if you use five or more cars at the same time, or if you claimed depreciation other than straight line, a section 179 deduction or the special depreciation allowance on the car.

Actual expenses

Without the standard rate, you deduct the business share of what the car actually costs: depreciation, lease payments, registration, licenses, insurance, repairs, gas, garage rent, tires, oil, tolls and parking. If you use the car for both business and personal driving, divide the costs by miles. Publication 463’s example: 12,000 business miles out of 20,000 total means 60% of the costs are deductible. Our calculators use the standard rate.

What you can add on top of the standard rate

• Business-related parking fees and tolls.
• If you are self-employed, the business part of the interest on your car loan. If you use the car 60% for business, 60% of the interest goes on Schedule C.
• If you are self-employed, the business part of state and local personal property taxes on the car.

What doesn’t count

• Commuting: driving between your home and your main or regular place of work is a personal expense, no matter how far it is and even if you work during the trip.
• Parking at your place of work: also a commuting expense.
• Fines and tickets: you can’t deduct fines you pay or collateral you forfeit for traffic violations.

Car expenses go on Schedule C, line 9, with details about the vehicle in Part IV of Schedule C (or on Form 4562 if you claim depreciation). Publication 463 has no rules written for app-based driving; for how its commuting rules may apply to your first and last trips of the day, see the FAQ.

Sources: IRS: Standard mileage rates, IRS Publication 463, IRS Instructions for Schedule C (2025)

Keeping a mileage log

The IRS says you can’t deduct amounts you approximate or estimate. For car expenses, Publication 463 says your records should show:

• the miles for each business use of the car
• the date of each use
• your business destination
• the business purpose of the trip
• your total miles for the year
• the date you started using the car for business, and its cost and any improvements

Write it down at or near the time. A log kept weekly that accounts for the week’s use counts as a timely record, and a record kept on a computer counts as a written one. A round trip or uninterrupted business use can be a single entry; a short personal stop, such as lunch between two business stops, doesn’t break it up.

Keep these records generally for 3 years from the date you file the return that claims the deduction.

Sources: IRS Publication 463

Other expenses drivers can deduct

The IRS test for any business expense: it must be ordinary (common and accepted in your field of business) and necessary (helpful and appropriate for your business). If something is partly business and partly personal, only the business part is generally deductible.

• Phone: only the business share of your phone costs. Keep your bills and a note of how you worked out the share.
• Supplies: Schedule C, line 22 is for materials and supplies you used in your business during the year, and for equipment you normally use up within a year; things that last substantially longer generally have to be depreciated. The IRS doesn’t publish a list of items for drivers, so judge things like an insulated delivery bag, a phone mount or a charger by the ordinary-and-necessary test, and count only the business share of anything you also use personally.
• Platform fees: the IRS says the gross payment amount on Form 1099-K isn’t adjusted for fees and that you can deduct them from the gross amount. Schedule C has a line for commissions and fees (line 10).
• Anything else: ordinary and necessary expenses that have no line of their own go in Part V of Schedule C (“Other expenses”). Fines or penalties paid to a government for breaking a law can’t be deducted.

In our calculators, enter these under “Other business expenses”. If the earnings you enter still include fees you were charged, add those fees there too.

Sources: IRS Publication 334, IRS Instructions for Schedule C (2025), IRS: What to do with Form 1099-K

Deductions that don’t depend on your expenses

Our calculators include these three for you.

New in 2025–2028: car loan interest

For 2025 through 2028, you may be able to deduct up to $10,000 a year of interest on a loan used to buy a qualified vehicle for personal use, whether or not you itemize. Our calculators don’t include this deduction. The IRS rules:

• The loan was originated after December 31, 2024, and is secured by a lien on the vehicle.
• The vehicle is new: its original use starts with you. Used vehicles don’t qualify, and neither do lease payments.
• It is a car, minivan, van, SUV, pickup truck or motorcycle with a gross vehicle weight rating under 14,000 pounds.
• It had its final assembly in the United States. The vehicle information label at the dealer lists where; you can also rely on the plant of manufacture shown by the vehicle identification number (VIN).
• It is for personal use, not business or commercial use, and you include its VIN on your return.

The deduction phases out when modified AGI is over $100,000 ($200,000 if married filing jointly): Schedule 1-A takes off $200 for each $1,000, or part of $1,000, over that amount.

If you also use the car for gig work, the business-use share of the interest is a business expense on Schedule C, and the personal-use share may qualify for this deduction on Schedule 1-A. You can’t deduct the same interest twice.

Sources: IRS: No tax on car loan interest (fact sheet), IRS Form 1040-ES (2026, PDF), IRS Schedule 1-A (2025, PDF), IRS Publication 463

Other deductions our calculators don’t include

• Self-employed health insurance: you may be able to deduct what you paid for medical and dental insurance and qualified long-term care insurance for yourself and your family (Schedule 1, line 17), even if you don’t itemize.
• Retirement contributions: as a sole proprietor you can deduct the contributions you make for yourself to a SEP, SIMPLE or qualified plan, such as a one-participant (“solo”) 401(k), on Schedule 1, line 16.

Sources: IRS Publication 334, IRS Instructions for Schedule C (2025), IRS: One-participant 401(k) plans

Example: what mileage is worth

Example. A single filer earns $30,000 from app-based driving in 2026, drives 5,000 business miles from January to June and 5,000 from July to December, and has no other income or expenses. Our calculators give:

Total federal tax is self-employment tax plus federal income tax, with the standard deduction and no tax credits. Each step is explained on the methodology page. Try your own numbers in the DoorDash, Uber or Texas self-employment calculator.

Frequently asked questions