Tax tips, mileage tracking guides, and IRS updates for self-employed professionals
Questions drivers open from this list: selling a car after the mileage deduction, a car accident during a gig, a holiday delivery job in your own car, the real estate agent mileage deduction, and mileage to kids' sports. Also the first week on iPhone and what to do if the IRS writes about your mileage.
Enter net profit after mileage, not app payouts. For 2027 plans the 400% cliff is back, so gross can wipe out your tax credit.
Read more →Neither has to be opened by Dec 31. A SEP takes 20% of net earnings; a Solo 401(k) adds up to $24,500. Both start from profit after mileage.
Read more →Only $25 per client per year is deductible, but wrapping, postage and the miles to deliver the gifts don't count toward the cap.
Read more →Gig driving doesn't rule out the new $10,000 deduction if the car is mostly personal. The business share can go on Schedule C instead.
Read more →Signings, drop-box runs and title-office trips are business miles. Only the notarial part of a signing fee skips self-employment tax.
Read more →Estimates, supply runs and installs are business miles. January takedowns belong to 2027, and November deposits are 2026 income.
Read more →Drives between clients' homes count. The drive to your first visit usually doesn't, unless your home office is your principal place of business.
Read more →On the standard mileage rate, tires are already priced in. When actual expenses lets you deduct them, and why one set rarely makes switching worth it.
Read more →Your first return locks standard mileage or actual expenses for the whole lease. Lease payments, the $62,000 inclusion rule, and the overage bill.
Read more →Both spouses gig in one car? Each claims only their own miles on their own Schedule C. A worked split, line 44, and the four ways couples double-count.
Read more →Thrift loops (even empty-handed ones), post office drops and estate sales count if reselling is a business. Your own closet doesn't. Plus the 2026 1099-K limit.
Read more →On standard mileage the repair bill isn't deductible, but the uninsured business share of the damage can be a casualty loss, capped by the car's remaining basis.
Read more →App tips qualify, but for a contractor the deduction stops at your profit after mileage, needs tips listed on a 2026 1099, and leaves SE tax untouched.
Read more →Seasonal delivery work in your own car? Signed a W-4: no federal deduction, so get the employer to reimburse every mile. Signed a W-9: deduct 76¢ a business mile.
Read more →Own an S corp and drive your own car? You can’t deduct those miles yourself. Have the company reimburse them under an accountable plan at 72.5¢/76¢, and pay by December 31.
Read more →W-2 job plus a driving side gig and no estimated payments yet? Extra withholding on your last 2026 paychecks counts as paid all year. How to size Step 4(c) from your profit after 72.5¢/76¢ miles.
Read more →Independent Medicare agents: drives between AEP appointments and seminars count at 76¢. Whether the first leg from home counts depends on your home office. What to log without writing down health details.
Read more →Driving to family for Thanksgiving and fitting in a client meeting? If the trip is mainly personal, the long drive isn’t deductible but the miles to the meeting are. Three worked trips, and when the whole drive counts.
Read more →Self-employed in Canada and kept a full logbook last year? Three months logged inside 2026 can set your business-use percentage for the whole year. The CRA formula, a worked example, and when the sample fails.
Read more →Selling cookies and pies this holiday season? Ingredient runs, deliveries and market days are business miles at 76¢. The family grocery trip isn’t, a hobby gets nothing, and the drive from your front door depends on one test.
Read more →Buy before December 31, 2026 only if you need the car. Bonus is 100% when you acquire it after January 19, 2025, and 20% if a binding contract predates January 20, 2025. A passenger automobile is still capped at $20,300 times business use, and bonus gives up the 76¢ standard rate.
Read more →The October 15, 2026 extension deadline has passed. Every 2025 business mile is still 70¢. File with the miles you can support, then prep the estimated tax due January 15, 2027.
Read more →Your rideshare 1099-K shows what riders paid, not what you were deposited. Where Uber and Lyft put your forms, which fees come back off, and which online miles are really commuting.
Read more →Driving your own child to games isn't deductible. Volunteer coaches and team managers for a 501(c)(3) league can claim 14¢ a mile if they itemize, with four details that decide it.
Read more →No logbook, no travel claim. What SARS wants recorded, the 2025/26 cost table with a worked example, when the R4.76 rate applies, and the 23 October 2026 deadline for non-provisional taxpayers.
Read more →A fair, dated comparison for 1099, rideshare, and delivery drivers. Free-trip caps, list prices checked September 28, 2026, IRS log fields, and who each app is not for. Affiliation disclosed.
Read more →Trips to collect rent, repair or show a unit go on Schedule E line 6 at 72.5¢ a mile, then 76¢ from July 1, 2026. Why the drive from home is often commuting, a worked example, and the log the IRS expects.
Read more →HMRC's approved rate rose to 55p in April 2026. If your employer still pays less, claim Mileage Allowance Relief on the difference: the maths, the log with postcodes HMRC asks for, and how to claim up to four years back.
Read more →Let offer alerts through Driving Focus, start a mileage log before trip one, photograph the odometer, keep storage free for app updates, and sort audio and food for the time between orders.
Read more →Over £30,000 turnover, MTD starts on 6 April 2027. Digital records, cumulative quarterly updates, the 55p/25p mileage rate, and how to keep records in one app and file with another.
Read more →Twelve continuous weeks, odometer readings at both ends, a real reason for every work trip, and five years of use from it. Plus the CRA’s base-year and three-month sample rules.
Read more →The tax job every delivery app shares, in one place, plus a side-by-side of how DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, Instacart, Spark and Amazon Flex pay, send forms and report miles.
Read more →A letter questioning your vehicle deduction is a document request, not a verdict. Which notice you got, the records that answer one, why estimates cannot substitute for a log, and the deadline that matters most. Education, not tax advice.
Read more →A one-line purpose note the day you drive beats a reconstructed April spreadsheet. What to write, when “near the time” still counts, and how to salvage a forgotten trip the same evening. Education, not tax advice.
Read more →Patient-to-patient miles, the commute to the agency, W-2 vs 1099, and why the medical mileage rate is for patients — not the clinician. Same-day notes, no patient names. Education, not tax advice.
Read more →Quit in the spring and every mile you drove is 72.5¢, not 76¢. Quit in August and your log has to be split at July 1. Plus the Schedule C you still file, the estimated payment you can probably skip, and the export to take before you delete the app. Education, not tax advice.
Read more →Your first estimated payment is January 15, not April. Your rate is 76¢, not 72.5¢. And the method you pick on this first return decides what you are allowed to do with this car for as long as you own it. Education, not tax advice.
Read more →No gas receipts does not mean no deduction — the standard rate applies to EVs identically. But claiming charging on top of it deducts the same cost twice, and low running costs make the rate better for you, not worse. Education, not tax advice.
Read more →The IRS pays three rates, not one: 76¢ business, 23.5¢ medical, 14¢ charity from 1 July. Both of the smaller ones need you to itemise, and medical needs 7.5% of AGI first. Who it helps and who it does not. Education, not tax advice.
Read more →HMRC pays 55p then 25p in miles on an April tax year. The CRA pays 73¢ then 67¢ in kilometres on the calendar year. The ATO pays 91¢ and then stops dead at 5,000 km. Why a single trip can straddle two rates. Education, not tax advice.
Read more →Find missing trips, classify business miles, reconcile your odometer, and keep a usable mileage record with one short weekly review. Education, not tax advice.
Read more →Uber Eats sends a 1099-K for deliveries and a 1099-NEC for promotions by January 31. Which tax-summary online miles are deductible, and which are commuting.
Read more →One log per odometer. Elect standard vs actual per car. Apply 72.5¢ / 76¢ by trip date. Do not merge two VINs on Part IV. Sale, loaner, rental, spouse car.
Read more →App gross is not take-home. Count unpaid wait and deadhead, price miles at 72.5¢ / 76¢ (or actual costs) without stacking gas, then divide. Per-platform, no double-counted miles.
Read more →Leaving MileIQ, Everlance, Stride, or a spreadsheet? Export first, map the five IRS fields plus total vehicle miles, import or stage a rebuild, then keep same-day classification. 72.5¢ / 76¢ by trip date.
Read more →Hands-free start/stop on the car screen and the wrist. The IRS log still lives on the iPhone: same-day purpose, five fields, 72.5¢ then 76¢ by trip date. CarPlay is Pro. Auto-detect works without either.
Read more →Honest comparison: price after the 30-trip vs 40-trip cap, auto-detect, IRS log fields, and 2026’s 72.5¢ / 76¢ split. TaxMiles is id 6758579463 — not Everlance. Who TaxMiles is not for.
Read more →Agents file Schedule C, not employee expenses. Showings, closings, inspections and sign installs are business miles — the drive to your brokerage office is not. Reimbursement, mixed trips, and the 72.5¢ / 76¢ split.
Read more →Business vs commuting vs personal for rideshare and delivery: first pickup, deadhead, temporary workplace, dual-purpose trips, airport queues, and errands with the app open. Apply 72.5¢ then 76¢ by trip date.
Read more →Phone and data are not inside 72.5¢ / 76¢. Claim the business percentage, split a family plan honestly, add mounts and chargers, and park the dollars on the right Schedule C lines. Education, not tax advice.
Read more →Grubhub sends a 1099-NEC itself, in the app from February, and keeps no mileage for you. How Contribution and tips are taxed, and which block miles count.
Read more →Generally 3 years from filing / 2 years from payment; longer if income was underreported or no return was filed. Export before you delete an app. A reconstruction is weaker than a live log.
Read more →Federal 1099-K is back to more than $20,000 and more than 200 transactions; 1099-NEC is $2,000. Neither form is your profit. Mileage still sits between gross and taxable. Education, not tax advice.
Read more →15.3% on 92.35% of net profit, not on the 1099. Mileage comes off first. Half of SE tax is deductible. $400 trigger, $184,500 Social Security wage base. Education, not tax advice.
Read more →Five IRS fields, total vehicle miles, business/commuting/other, June 30 rate split, CSV vs PDF, multi-app without double-counting. A reconstruction is weaker than a live export.
Read more →Months-later rebuilds fail: memory fades, platform miles are empty, purpose is missing. Capture close to the trip, run a Friday review, and treat reconstruction as weaker evidence.
Read more →IRC 280A exclusive + regular use, $5/sq ft vs Form 8829, and when a real principal place of business can flip home-to-first-pickup drives. Do not fake an office to mint miles.
Read more →Already on 72.5¢ / 76¢? Parking, tolls, loan interest, phone, supplies, and a qualifying home office can still sit on top. Gas and insurance cannot. Schedule C line pointers.
Read more →Federal unreimbursed employee mileage was suspended through 2025 — confirm 2026 Form 2106. Many states still allow the miles. Get reimbursed first; keep a five-field log.
Read more →Unpaid miles between paid trips while you are available for work are usually business; hotspot staging too. Home bookends follow commuting rules. Log purpose; apply 72.5¢ then 76¢ by date.
Read more →Same-day multi-app drivers: one physical mile is one deduction. Reconcile platform summaries against one GPS log, keep the five IRS fields, export for a CPA. 2026’s 72.5¢ / 76¢ by date.
Read more →Jan 1 / Dec 31 bookend photos, monthly snapshots, and a five-field trip log so Part IV total miles are more than an app screenshot. 2026’s 72.5¢ / 76¢ apply only to business miles.
Read more →Standard mileage is not all-or-nothing. Business parking and tolls can sit on top of 72.5¢ then 76¢; gas and insurance cannot. Airport lots, reimbursements, Line 9.
Read more →Line 9 vs actual-expense lines, Part IV, when Form 4562 is required, where 2026’s 72.5¢ then 76¢ go, and how multi-app drivers combine miles without claiming both methods.
Read more →The depreciation baked into the mileage rate lowers basis. How to total business miles by year, apply 2026’s 35¢ component, and estimate gain or loss when you sell.
Read more →Honest comparison: price after the 40-trip cap, auto-detect, IRS log fields, and 2026's two rates (72.5¢ through June 30, 76¢ from July 1). Tax Miles is id 6758579463 — not MileIQ.
Read more →Form 1040-X, the records you need, the three-year refund window, and when amending is — and is not — worth it. Practical steps, not legal advice.
Read more →All three 2026 rates, why the IRS raised the business rate on July 1, who may use the standard rate, and how to split your log at June 30 and redo the September 15 estimate.
Read more →Hand a CPA a dated five-field log — not an April reconstruction. Weekly 10-minute review, miles the apps skip, 72.5¢ / 76¢ by trip date. Education, not tax advice.
Read more →Q4 evergreen prep: who owes estimated taxes, the January 15, 2027 installment (Sep–Dec), safe harbor in five minutes, mileage at 76¢ off the top, and how to reconstruct if tracking lapsed.
Read more →Nothing is withheld and the 1099 shows gross — the gap between that number and your real profit is where your money lives. Mileage across multiple apps, the write-offs that stack with it, and the quarterlies.
Read more →The one car-deduction choice that follows you for years. The first-year election, the lease lock-in, and worked examples where each method wins by thousands.
Read more →The drive to work is never deductible — except when it is. The commuting rule, the home-office exception that flips it, and how gig drivers should log the first trip of the day.
Read more →The 25–30% rule explained: the self-employment tax math, a set-aside table by income level, 2026 quarterly deadlines, and the deductions that shrink the number.
Read more →Five fields, contemporaneous notes, and 2026’s 72.5¢ / 76¢ date stamp. What a log has to show if someone asks — and why a year-end guess or platform total is not that log.
Read more →From mileage to home office to retirement contributions, these deductions can cut your tax bill by thousands. Most freelancers miss at least three of them.
Read more →For 1099, rideshare, and delivery: record each drive the day you take it, keep the IRS fields, and apply 72.5¢ through June 30 and 76¢ from July 1 by trip date. A platform miles total is not the log.
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