Independent Contractor Taxes

Nine important concepts that help you understand how taxes work when you are an independent contractor in the gig economy, with special emphasis on on-demand and last mile delivery contractors.

We look at how a gig worker can know how much to set aside to make sure they are ready for tax day.

We go into detail on what your basis is for income and self-employment taxes as an independent contractor.

An overview of how taxes work for Doordash Dashers. The first of a series of Doordash specific tax articles.

An overview of how taxes work for Uber Eats Independent Contractors. The first of a series of Uber-Eats specific tax articles.

The first of a series of Grubhub-specific tax articles, and an overview of how taxes work for Grubhub independent contractors.

We examine the available tax books that explain how taxes work for independent contractors in the gig economy, with special emphasis on delivery contracting.

We provide an overview of business income (revenue) for independent contractors, and how that is reported on your taxes.

We examine what a 1099 form is, how it works, and what gig workers need to know when they get their 1099's from Doordash, Uber, Grubhub, Instacart and other gig companies.

What happens if your 1099 from Doordash is wrong? What do you do if there's an issue with your forms from Uber, Grubhub, Instacart, Lyft and others? We discuss what contractors should do if there's an error in the amount gig companies report to the IRS.

We explain how tax deductions for business expenses work, and how to use IRS guidelines to determine whether an expense is a legitimate write-off.

We examine why business expenses for independent contractors are not the same as itemized tax deductions, and why you can claim the standard deductions AND take your business and mileage expense deductions.

The IRS has independent contractors list expenses by expense category. We examine the Schedule C expense categories and look at common tax deductions taken by delivery and rideshare contractors.

Beyond the business expenses claimed on Schedule C, independent contractors may be able to claim four special tax deductions for self-employed individuals.

An overview of how the car or truck expense deduction works, explaining the choice between miles or actual expenses.

Independent contractors can only claim expenses for the business miles driven. We look at how to know what miles you can track and claim, either for the standard mileage allowance or to determine the business percentage of miles driven for the actual expense method.

The IRS requires certain things for documentation when claiming vehicle expenses. We examine how to meet those requirements and the different ways you can track and document your car expenses.

One option for claiming car expenses is to calculate the actual cost of driving and claim the business percentage of that cost. We examine how business percentage works and what items to consider when calculating the actual expense of driving.

Examines the standard mileage rate for 2022 and how the IRS increased the rate for the latter half of the year.

There are three car-related expenses that gig workers may not realize they can claim even when taking the standard mileage deduction: Business related parking/tolls, the business percentage of property taxes on your vehicle, and the business percentage of interest on your car loan. We look at what the IRS says about these three items and how it works on your taxes.

The IRS requires you to have documentation to back up your mileage or car expense claim. This requires tracking what miles were driven for business. But what if you didn't know you could claim those expenses or forgot to track? We look at what independent contractors can do to document untracked miles in an IRS-compliant manner.

Some wonder if you can write off the purchase of a new or used car when it's used for their business. We examine whether or not you can write off your car payment and how it works for delivery and rideshare contractors.

California's Proposition 22 requires delivery and rideshare companies to pay a minimum based on time and miles. We examine how that works, whether that's a reimbursement or if California app-based workers can still write off their miles.

The IRS does not allow the standard mileage rate to be used for two-wheel vehicles. We examine how to claim the cost of using a bicycle, e-bike, scooter or motorcycle for business purposes.

One of the biggest debates for independent contractors is whether you can claim meals that are eaten while working. We examine how the meal deduction works for gig workers and what the IRS says about what you can and cannot claim.

We examine how the home office deduction works, and how to determine whether gig workers in rideshare and delivery can claim that deduction.

Schedule C is the main form that is different for independent contractors than for most other tax filers. We break down what the form is, and how delivery and rideshare contractors would fill out the form.

Self-employment tax is the independent contractor's version of Social Security and Medicare taxes. We look at how that works.

We look at the income tax process for delivery contractors, and how business profits from Schedule C factor into the income tax bill.

For independent contractors who are starting to think about taxes in the new year. We look at how one should get started to plan for tax day.

Many independent contractors get confused by the term "quarterly taxes." We explain that there is not a separate quarterly tax, but instead that's a term often used for estimated payments. We look at when someone would need to make quarterly payments and how it works.

We examine what independent contractors need to do at the start of the year, and how to determine if they need to make an estimated payment for the fourth quarter, due on January 15, in order to avoid additional costs when they file taxes.