Every delivery app pays you the same way as far as the IRS is concerned: as a self-employed contractor, with nothing withheld. That means the tax side of DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, Instacart, Spark and Amazon Flex is one job, not six. This page is that job. Each platform guide linked below covers only what is genuinely different about that app: how it pays, how it sends your tax form, and where its miles start and stop.
The short version: report every payout and tip on Schedule C. Deduct business miles at 72.5¢ for miles driven January 1 – June 30, 2026 and 76¢ from July 1, from a dated log you keep yourself. Home to your usual starting zone is usually commuting. Parking, tolls, phone and bags stack on top of the rate; gas does not. Set aside 25–30% of profit and pay quarterly. One physical mile counts once, however many apps were open.
The platforms side by side
What each app pays, which form it sends, and whether it gives you any mileage figure at all. None of them gives you a log the IRS would accept on its own.
| Platform | How pay is built | Tax form (who sends it) | Mileage from the platform |
|---|---|---|---|
| DoorDash | Base pay + promotions + 100% of tips; optional Earn by Time | 1099-NEC in the Dasher app (Stripe only for 2023 and earlier) | An emailed estimate of on-delivery miles |
| Uber Eats | Base fare + promotions + tips | 1099-K for delivery earnings, 1099-NEC for promotions and referrals | Tax summary with online miles, in three categories |
| Grubhub | Base pay + bonuses + tips; Contribution tops up scheduled blocks | 1099-NEC from Grubhub, in the app from February | None. Grubhub says it has no mileage data |
| Instacart | Batch pay + tips + boosts + heavy pay | Filed through Stripe; forms in the Shopper app | None we could confirm |
| Walmart Spark | Trip earnings + incentives + tips | 1099-NEC from Walmart, in the Spark app | None. Walmart says so in its tax FAQ |
| Amazon Flex | Block pay with a per-hour minimum + tips on eligible deliveries | Year-end 1099 from Amazon (check the form you receive) | None. Amazon says mileage is your expense |
1. What counts as income, and which form you get
Everything the app pays you is income: base pay, promotions, guarantees, bonuses and in-app tips. Cash tips at the door are income too, even though no form shows them. You report the total on Schedule C whether or not a form arrives.
The forms only tell the IRS what the platform paid. For payments made in 2026, a platform generally files Form 1099-NEC once it has paid you $2,000 (it was $600 through 2025). Form 1099-K from a payment network generally goes out only above $20,000 and 200 transactions, though some states set lower thresholds. A driver below both lines gets no form and still owes tax on the income. How to reconcile overlapping forms is in 1099-K vs 1099-NEC for gig drivers.
On top of income tax you owe self-employment tax: 15.3% on 92.35% of net profit, once net earnings reach $400. Mileage comes off before either tax is worked out, which is why it matters so much. The mechanics are in self-employment tax for gig drivers, and the Schedule C lines for the car are in claiming car expenses on Schedule C.
2. Which delivery miles are business miles
The IRS does not care whether the app was open. It cares whether you were driving between work locations or commuting to one. For delivery work the pattern is consistent across apps:
| Drive | Usual treatment | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Home → the zone, store, restaurant strip or station you usually start from | Usually commuting | A place you report to on a pattern looks like a regular workplace. |
| Pickup → customer on an accepted order | Business | You are working. |
| Customer → next pickup in the same session | Usually business | Work location to work location, paid or not. |
| Repositioning to a busier zone mid-session | Usually business | Still between work locations. |
| Last drop → home | Usually commuting | The other bookend. |
| A personal stop mid-shift | Personal | An open app does not convert an errand. |
A qualifying home office can turn the first and last legs into business miles; a kitchen table cannot. The rules are in business vs commuting miles, the home-office test for gig drivers and what counts as a business mile. Empty miles between orders are covered in deadhead miles.
Whatever mileage figure a platform gives you is a source, not a log. The IRS wants date, destination, purpose and miles for each trip, recorded at or near the time, plus total miles on the car for the year. The five-field habit is in how to keep an IRS-ready mileage log.
3. The 2026 rate, and how to apply it
Multiply business miles by the rate in force on the day you drove them: 72.5¢ through June 30, 2026, 76¢ from July 1. A driver with 6,000 business miles in each half deducts $4,350 + $4,560 = $8,910. One annual total times one rate is wrong either way. The official sources and the step-by-step split are in the 2026 IRS mileage rate guide, and the mileage calculator does the arithmetic.
Standard mileage versus actual expenses is decided per car, and the first year matters: use the standard rate in the first year a car is used for business or you lose it for that car. See standard mileage vs actual expenses.
4. What stacks on top of the rate
| Cost | On top of standard mileage? |
|---|---|
| Parking and tolls on work trips | Yes |
| Phone and data, business share | Yes |
| Insulated bags, phone mount, delivery supplies | Yes |
| Car-loan interest, business share | Yes, for the self-employed |
| Gas, charging, insurance, repairs, tires, depreciation | No. Already inside the rate |
Details are in write-offs that stack with the mileage deduction, parking and tolls and phone and data plans.
5. Running two apps at once
Most delivery drivers multi-app. The deduction follows the car, not the app: a mile driven with DoorDash and Uber Eats both open is still one mile. Adding each platform’s mileage figure together is the most common way a return claims more miles than the car drove. Keep one log for the car and allocate income, not miles. The method is in multi-app tracking without double-counting. If you’re just starting, the first-week iPhone setup covers letting both apps’ offers through Driving Focus.
6. Setting money aside and paying quarterly
With nothing withheld, most drivers who expect to owe $1,000 or more for the year need to pay estimated tax. Moving 25–30% of each payout, measured on profit after mileage, into a separate account covers most people. The remaining 2026 dates are September 15, 2026 and January 15, 2027. Paying 100% of last year’s total tax (110% at higher incomes) across the year is the safe harbor against the underpayment penalty. See how much to set aside and the September 15 deadline.
Starting or stopping part-way through the year has its own traps: your first tax year and after you stop driving. And to see what the work actually pays once the car is counted, work out your true hourly wage.
One log for every app you drive for
TaxMiles detects drives automatically, lets you mark each one business or personal with a swipe, and applies 72.5¢ or 76¢ by the date of the trip. Free for 40 trips a month; Pro is $5.99/month.
Download TaxMiles FreeFrequently asked questions
Do delivery drivers get a 1099?
Usually. For payments made in 2026 a platform generally files Form 1099-NEC once it has paid you $2,000, and a payment network files Form 1099-K above $20,000 and 200 transactions. You report all of the income either way, including tips and any amount below those lines.
Is the drive from home to my first pickup deductible?
Usually not, if you start from the same zone, store or station on a pattern: that looks like commuting. Miles between pickups and drop-offs during a session usually are business. A qualifying home office can change the first and last legs.
What mileage rate do delivery drivers use in 2026?
The IRS business rate: 72.5 cents per mile for miles driven January 1 through June 30, 2026, and 76 cents from July 1. Apply each rate to the miles driven in its half of the year.
Can I use the mileage my delivery app reports?
As a cross-check, not as your log. Some platforms give an estimate or online-mile totals and some give nothing. None records the business purpose of each trip or the car’s total miles, which the IRS asks for.
General tax education for U.S. federal Schedule C filers, not tax advice. Platform pay rules and tax-form practices change; the platform facts on this page were checked against each platform’s own help pages on September 22, 2026. Platform names are trademarks of their owners; TaxMiles is not affiliated with any of them.