Grubhub Taxes (2026): Your 1099-NEC, How Pay Works, and Which Miles Count

Grubhub drivers are contractors, so the tax basics are the same as every other delivery app: report the income, deduct dated business miles, pay quarterly. Those are covered once in the delivery driver taxes guide. This page is about what Grubhub does differently: how its pay is built, how and when its 1099 arrives, and what its scheduled blocks mean for your mileage.

How Grubhub pay is built

Grubhub describes each offer as base pay plus any applicable bonuses, with base pay reflecting mileage, delivery type, time spent and your local market. On top of that you keep 100% of customer tips. If you schedule a block and your earnings for it fall short of Grubhub’s guaranteed minimum, Grubhub adds Contribution to make up the difference. Missions pay extra for hitting set targets.

For tax purposes all of it is income: base pay, bonuses, Missions, Contribution and tips. Contribution is not a reimbursement for miles, even though distance feeds into base pay. You still deduct your actual business miles at the IRS rate.

How Grubhub sends your tax form

Grubhub issues Form 1099-NEC directly. Its driver help centre says forms are processed and sent at the end of January and appear in the driver app and the Grubhub Driver Portal starting in February, or arrive by mail in early February if you have not opted into electronic delivery. That is a little later than platforms that post forms by January 31, so do not assume a missing form in the last week of January means you will not get one.

Grubhub’s help pages still quote the $600 threshold that applied through 2025. For payments made in 2026 the federal 1099-NEC threshold is $2,000. Either way, the income is reportable whether a form arrives or not.

Grubhub miles: blocks, zones and the record Grubhub does not keep

Grubhub is explicit that it cannot help with mileage: its help centre says it is your responsibility to track your miles and that its 1099 and support teams have no access to mileage information. So the only record you will have is the one you make.

Scheduling is what makes Grubhub mileage a little different. Drivers typically schedule blocks in a delivery region and wait for offers there. If you start from the same region most shifts, the drive from home to it looks like a commute. Once you are working, the drive from a restaurant to the customer, from that customer to the next restaurant, and a move to another part of the region to catch offers are usually business. The final drive home is usually commuting again.

• Log the block, not just the orders. A note like “GH block 5–9 pm, downtown” next to the trips explains why the between-order miles were work.
• Waiting is not driving. Time parked with the app open adds no miles, and there is nothing to deduct for it.
• Other apps on at the same time. One mile is still one mile. See multi-app tracking without double-counting.

Illustration only: a Grubhub driver who logs 4,800 business miles through June 30 and 5,400 from July 1 deducts $3,480 + $4,104 = $7,584. The commuting legs from home to the region are not in those totals.

Everything else

What else stacks on top of the rate (hot bags, phone, parking, tolls), how self-employment tax works, and how much to set aside for quarterly payments are the same for every app and are in the delivery driver taxes guide. If you also drive for DoorDash, its guide covers how its form and mileage estimate differ from Grubhub’s.

Frequently asked questions

Does Grubhub send a 1099?

Yes. Grubhub issues Form 1099-NEC directly. It processes forms at the end of January; they appear in the driver app and Driver Portal from February, or by mail in early February without e-delivery. Report the income even if no form arrives.

Is Grubhub Contribution taxable?

Yes. Contribution, base pay, bonuses, Missions and tips are all income on Schedule C. Contribution is not a mileage reimbursement; you still deduct your own business miles at the IRS rate.

Does Grubhub track mileage for taxes?

No. Grubhub’s help centre says drivers are responsible for tracking their own mileage and that its 1099 and support teams have no mileage information.

Is the drive to my Grubhub delivery region deductible?

Usually not if you start there on a pattern; it looks like commuting. Miles from restaurant to customer and between orders during a block are usually business.

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.