Average per-mile earning after gas, wear, and the deductions most drivers never claim.
Average annual deductible miles left untracked — that's $7,840 walking out the door.
Average time saved per tax filing when drivers track properly from day one.
Marcus runs DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub simultaneously. He tracked 22,000 miles last year. He drove 38,000.
"I figured if I didn't write it down, it didn't count. Turns out the IRS doesn't care about your napkin — they care about your phone's GPS."
— Marcus T., Atlanta, GA · DoorDash / Uber Eats / Grubhub
Marcus leaves his apartment in East Atlanta at 10 a.m. on a Friday. By 10 p.m. he'll have completed 41 deliveries across three platforms — switching between apps based on surge pricing, ignoring the ones with sub-$2 base pay, stacking orders when the math works. He knows his market. What he doesn't know is that he's been shorting himself by roughly $9,100 a year in unclaimed mileage deductions.
The IRS standard mileage rate for 2025 is 70 cents per mile. On 38,000 miles, that's $26,600 in deductible expenses. Marcus claimed $15,400. The 16,000 untracked miles — the drives between restaurants, the dead-miles back to the hot zone, the run to pick up a phone charger mid-shift — those are gone.
The fix isn't complicated. It's a free app running in the background. But first, Marcus needed to understand what actually counts.
From the Driver Mailbag — Mileage Questions
Yes — and this is where multi-app drivers win big. Every mile driven while your app is open and you're available for orders counts, not just miles with a passenger or package. DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub all qualify under IRS Publication 463. The 2025 standard mileage rate is 70 cents per mile. If Marcus drove 38,000 miles last year across three apps and only logged 22,000, he left $11,200 in deductions on the table.
From the moment you leave home with the intent to deliver, every mile is potentially deductible — including the drive to your first pickup, miles between deliveries, and the return home if you end your shift from a delivery location. The IRS "commute rule" doesn't apply when your vehicle is your primary business tool. A mileage tracking app running in the background is the only way to capture all of this reliably.
Reconstruct it now. The IRS accepts reconstructed logs if they're based on contemporaneous evidence — your app's order history, GPS data from your phone, bank statements showing fuel purchases. Export your order history from every platform you used, map the dates to your calendar, and build the log retroactively. It's tedious but it's legal, and the deduction is real money.
The three mileage apps drivers actually use — and the one that works best for multi-platform stackers.
See the Comparison →
Priya has memorized every aisle in three different Krogers. She's never read her auto insurance policy once.
"I thought Instacart had me covered. They do — but only for about forty minutes of my four-hour shift."
— Priya M., Columbus, OH · Instacart Full-Service Shopper
Priya runs four Instacart batches on a Tuesday. She drives to Kroger, shops two orders simultaneously, drives to two separate addresses, returns to Kroger, repeats. She knows which self-checkout lines move fastest at 11 a.m. She knows the produce manager by name. What she didn't know — until a fender-bender in the Kroger parking lot last October — is that her personal auto insurer denied the claim because she was on an active app session.
The insurer's position: the vehicle was in commercial use. Instacart's position: the active delivery phase hadn't started yet. Priya's position: $1,400 out of pocket for a parking lot scrape that should have been covered by someone.
A rideshare endorsement from her existing insurer costs $22 a month — $264 a year. The deductible she paid was $1,400. The math does itself.
From the Driver Mailbag — Insurance & Tax Questions
Almost certainly not — and this is the gap that blindsides grocery shoppers specifically. Personal auto policies exclude "commercial use," and Instacart's shopper coverage only kicks in during the active delivery phase (from store to customer). The period when you're driving to the store to pick up the order? That's your coverage gap. Rideshare endorsements from your personal insurer (typically $15–$30/month) or a commercial policy close this window. Without it, an at-fault accident during the shopping phase could leave you personally liable.
Yes — these are ordinary and necessary business expenses under IRC Section 162. Keep receipts. The $28 insulated bag from Amazon, the $14 reusable totes from Costco, the $6 pack of rubber bands you use to keep orders sorted — all deductible. Photograph receipts with a free app like Expensify or simply forward email receipts to a dedicated business Gmail. Over a year, most active Instacart shoppers accumulate $150–$400 in deductible supplies.
Yes. The $600 threshold determines whether the platform is required to send you a 1099 — it has nothing to do with whether your income is taxable. If you earned $1 doing gig work, the IRS expects you to report it. The good news: every dollar you earn is offset by every deductible expense, and most active drivers run enough mileage and supply costs to reduce their effective tax rate significantly. The bad news: self-employment tax (15.3%) applies to net earnings regardless of your income level.
Which insurers actually offer rideshare/delivery endorsements — and what to say when you call your agent.
See the Insurance Guide →DeShawn does 3 a.m. McDonald's runs in a 2019 Camry with 94,000 miles on it. Every mile is costing him more than he thinks — and less than he's deducting.
"My car is my business. I put 40,000 miles on it in one year. I claimed $0 in maintenance because I didn't know I could."
— DeShawn R., Memphis, TN · DoorDash / Amazon Flex Night Routes
DeShawn starts his DoorDash shift at 10 p.m. and finishes his Amazon Flex block at 4 a.m. He's been doing this for two years. His Camry now has 94,000 miles on it — roughly 60,000 of which were logged in gig work. He's replaced the tires twice, had four oil changes last year, and replaced a front brake assembly in November. Total maintenance spend: $1,840. Amount he claimed on his taxes: zero.
Under the standard mileage rate, DeShawn could have claimed $28,000 in deductions on his 40,000 business miles last year. He claimed $19,600 — because he only tracked 28,000 of those miles. The 12,000 untracked miles cost him $8,400 in deductions and roughly $2,100 in overpaid taxes (at a 25% effective rate).
The maintenance question is separate: under the standard mileage rate, maintenance is already included in the 70¢/mile calculation. DeShawn was right not to claim it separately — but he was wrong to not track his miles fully. The two errors compounded each other.
From the Driver Mailbag — Vehicle & Maintenance Questions
Yes, proportionally. If 70% of your vehicle use is for gig work (tracked via mileage log), 70% of your maintenance costs are deductible. This includes oil changes, tire rotations, air filters, wiper blades, and car washes that are legitimately for business presentation. Keep every receipt. A $60 oil change becomes a $42 deduction. A $600 set of tires becomes a $420 deduction. Over a year, a driver putting 35,000 business miles on their car typically has $800–$1,400 in proportional maintenance deductions.
For most gig drivers, the standard mileage rate (70¢/mile in 2025) is simpler and often higher than actual expenses — especially if you drive a fuel-efficient car. The actual expense method requires tracking every dollar spent on the vehicle (gas, insurance, maintenance, depreciation, registration) and calculating your business-use percentage. Run both calculations for your first year. If actual expenses exceed standard mileage by more than 15%, switch — but know that once you use actual expenses, you're locked in for that vehicle's life. Most drivers making under $80,000 net come out ahead with standard mileage.
Under the actual expense method, yes — Section 179 or MACRS depreciation applies to the business-use portion of your vehicle. Under the standard mileage rate, depreciation is already baked in (currently 30¢ of the 70¢ rate is the depreciation component). You cannot double-dip. If you're considering purchasing a new vehicle primarily for gig work, talk to a CPA before you buy — bonus depreciation rules and Section 179 limits change annually, and the timing of your purchase relative to your tax year matters.
Use Standard Mileage if:
You drive a fuel-efficient car, do under 50,000 miles/year, or want simplicity. Most drivers under $80K net income win here.
Use Actual Expenses if:
You drive a truck or SUV with high fuel costs, have significant loan interest, or do over 60,000 business miles. Run both calculations first year.
Enter your miles and car type — see in 30 seconds whether standard or actual expenses saves you more.
Run the Calculation →Everything a gig driver needs.
Nothing they don't.
Mileage Tracking Apps — Ranked for Gig Drivers
We tested Stride, MileIQ, Everlance, and Hurdlr over 90 days across three platforms. One wins by a significant margin for multi-app stackers.
Read the Comparison →The Complete Gig Driver Deduction Checklist
47 legitimate deductions most drivers never claim — from phone data plans to parking fees to the cost of a good insulated bag.
Download Free PDF →Insurance for Delivery Drivers — State by State
Which carriers offer rideshare endorsements, what they cost, and the exact language to use when calling your agent.
See the Guide →Quarterly Tax Calculator for 1099 Workers
Enter your platform earnings, estimated mileage, and expense categories — get your Q1–Q4 estimated payment amounts.
Open Calculator →The 47-Item Gig Driver Deduction Checklist
Print it. Keep it in your glove box. Check it in April.