Uber Driver Tax Calculator (2026)
Estimate your 2026 federal taxes and how much to set aside, whether you drive Uber rides or deliver for Uber Eats.
Your estimate
Enter your Uber earnings above to see how much to set aside.
Quarterly payments
Pay about $0.00 by each date:
| Self-employment tax (Social Security + Medicare) | $0.00 |
|---|---|
| Federal income tax (extra from Uber) | $0.00 |
| Total federal tax | $0.00 |
Add your business miles: each mile lowers your tax.
Federal only. State taxes and tax credits are not included.
For your numbers, use the yearly tax summary or the 1099 forms in your own Uber account, together with your own mileage log.
Also deliver for DoorDash? Add both earnings together here or in the DoorDash tax calculator. Driving in Texas? Texas has no state income tax, but federal tax still applies: self-employment tax in Texas.
Uber Eats taxes
This calculator uses the same calculation for rides and deliveries: both are self-employment income. The IRS describes driving a car for booked rides or deliveries as gig work. Choose “I deliver food (Uber Eats)” above and only the wording changes. If you do both, enter the totals for both together.
- Miles: enter your business miles for deliveries. Driving from home to your first stop can count as commuting, which isn’t deductible. Publication 463 explains when it is and isn’t, including the rules for a home office.
- Car costs: the calculator uses the standard mileage rate. Publication 463 says that if you use it, you can’t also deduct actual car expenses such as gasoline, insurance, or maintenance and repairs. Business-related parking fees and tolls can be deducted on top.
- 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, and Schedule C has a line for commissions and fees. If the earnings you enter still include fees you were charged, add those fees to other business expenses.
- Tips: “Goods delivery people” is on the IRS list of occupations that customarily received tips, with “app/platform-based delivery person” as an example, so delivery tips can count for the tips deduction.
Sources: IRS: Manage taxes for your gig work, IRS Publication 463, IRS: What to do with Form 1099-K, IRS Instructions for Schedule C (2025), IRS: Occupations that customarily received tips
How this is calculated
1. Find your business profit
Your mileage deduction is your business miles times the IRS standard mileage rate: 72.5¢ per mile from January 1 to June 30, 2026, and 76¢ per mile from July 1 to December 31, 2026. We add your other expenses and subtract the total from your earnings.
Sources: IRS: Standard mileage rates
2. Self-employment tax
92.35% of your profit is taxed at 15.3%: 12.4% for Social Security (only on the first $184,500 of W-2 wages and self-employment earnings combined) plus 2.9% for Medicare. If that 92.35% figure is under $400, there is no self-employment tax.
Sources: IRS: Self-employment tax, IRS Topic 554, SSA: Contribution and benefit base
3. Additional Medicare Tax
An extra 0.9% applies to wages and self-employment earnings above $200,000 ($250,000 if married filing jointly, $125,000 if married filing separately). W-2 wages use up that threshold first.
4. Federal income tax
We start from your W-2 wages plus your profit, minus half of your self-employment tax. Then we subtract the 2026 standard deduction ($16,100 single, $32,200 married filing jointly, $24,150 head of household), the tips deduction (up to $25,000; not available if married filing separately; reduced when modified AGI is over $150,000, or $300,000 if married filing jointly), and the qualified business income deduction (generally 20% of business income, at least $400 if you have $1,000 or more, and reduced at high incomes). The 2026 tax brackets are applied to what is left.
Sources: IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (PDF), IRS: No tax on tips, IRS: Qualified business income deduction
5. Only the extra tax from your Uber income
We figure your income tax twice, with and without your Uber income, and show the difference. If you have a W-2 job, its own tax (usually withheld from your paycheck) is not part of the result.
6. Quarterly payments
The total is divided into four equal payments, due April 15, 2026, June 15, 2026, September 15, 2026 and January 15, 2027.
Sources: IRS Form 1040-ES (2026, PDF)
Assumptions: you take the standard deduction, have no tax credits and no income other than Uber and W-2 wages, all tips you enter qualify for the tips deduction, and you have no employees. Every figure and its source is listed on the methodology page.
Frequently asked questions
Are Uber tips taxed?
Yes. The IRS says tips received by self-employed workers are income: they are part of your gross receipts on Schedule C and are subject to self-employment tax.
For 2025 through 2028 there is a new federal income tax deduction for qualified tips of up to $25,000 a year. The IRS list of occupations that customarily received tips includes "Taxi and rideshare drivers and chauffeurs" (code 802, with "platform/app-based rideshare driver" as an example) and "Goods delivery people" (code 804, with "app/platform-based delivery person" as an example). If you are self-employed, the deduction can't be more than your net income from the business where you earned the tips. It phases out when modified AGI is over $150,000 ($300,000 if married filing jointly), and married people must file jointly to claim it. It lowers income tax only, not self-employment tax.
Sources: IRS: Tip recordkeeping and reporting, IRS: No tax on tips, IRS: Occupations that customarily received tips
Do Uber drivers pay self-employment tax?
If you drive or deliver as an independent contractor (self-employed), yes. The IRS says your net earnings from self-employment are generally subject to self-employment tax, and that you must file a tax return if you have net earnings from self-employment of $400 or more from gig work, even if it's a side job, part-time or temporary.
Self-employment tax alone is 15.3% of 92.35% of your profit, or about 14.1% of profit while your combined earnings stay under the $184,500 Social Security wage base. Federal income tax is added on top once your income is more than your deductions.
Sources: IRS: Self-employment tax, IRS: Manage taxes for your gig work, IRS Topic 554
What miles can I deduct?
Business miles. Driving between your home and your main or regular place of work is commuting, and the IRS says commuting costs are not deductible. IRS Publication 463 explains which trips count as business in different situations.
Keep a record as you go: the miles for each business trip, the date, the destination and the business purpose, plus your total miles for the year. Business parking fees and tolls can be deducted on top of the standard mileage rate. To use the standard mileage rate for a car you own, you must choose it in the first year you use the car for business.
For 2026 the rate is 72.5¢ per mile for January to June and 76¢ per mile for July to December.
Do Uber drivers need to pay quarterly estimated taxes?
The IRS says that if you earn money for gig work as an independent contractor, you may have to pay quarterly estimated taxes. The 2026 due dates are listed next.
April 15, 2026; June 15, 2026; September 15, 2026; and January 15, 2027. You generally have to make estimated tax payments if you expect to owe $1,000 or more when you file your return.
Most people avoid the underpayment penalty if they owe less than $1,000 after withholding and credits, or paid at least 90% of this year's tax or 100% of last year's tax, whichever is smaller. You can pay online, by phone, with the IRS app, or by mail with Form 1040-ES.
Sources: IRS: Manage taxes for your gig work, IRS Form 1040-ES (2026, PDF), IRS: Estimated taxes
I drive for Uber and DoorDash. How do I combine them?
Enter the combined totals in either calculator: add your earnings from every platform together, and do the same for tips, business miles and other expenses. Count each business mile only once.
The tax is calculated on your total self-employment income from all platforms, not separately for each one. The IRS Instructions for Schedule SE say that if you had two or more businesses subject to self-employment tax, your net earnings from self-employment are the combined net earnings from all of your businesses, and you figure the combined tax on one Schedule SE.
This holds whether or not each platform sends you a tax form: the IRS says you must report gig income even if it isn't reported on an information return such as Form 1099-K, 1099-MISC, 1099-NEC or W-2.
Sources: IRS Instructions for Schedule SE (2025), IRS: Gig economy tax center
Disclaimer
This calculator gives an estimate for planning only. It is not tax, legal or financial advice. Your actual tax depends on details it does not ask about. GigTaxMath is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Uber or DoorDash. The Uber and Uber Eats names are used only to describe who this calculator is for.
Last updated: · Tax year 2026