Amazon Flex does not pay for mileage. The dollar figure shown when you accept a block is the entire payment for that shift, and Amazon expects you to cover fuel, wear, tolls, and every other driving cost out of it. You can, however, recover a large share of those costs at tax time by deducting your business miles at the IRS standard rate, which is 72.5 cents per mile for 2026.1Internal Revenue Service. IRS Sets 2026 Business Standard Mileage Rate at 72.5 Cents Per Mile, Up 2.5 Cents
What Your Block Pay Actually Covers
The number in the app is gross pay, period. There is no separate line for gas, no mileage add-on, no toll reimbursement, no parking allowance, and no payment for oil changes, tires, or insurance. Amazon’s own driver FAQ confirms that as an independent contractor you are responsible for your own expenses.2Amazon Flex. Frequently Asked Driver Questions The hourly rate advertised for a block is built with the assumption that you will absorb those costs yourself.
That matters for how you evaluate a block. A route that pays well per hour on paper can pay poorly per hour once you subtract the miles you drove getting to the pickup, the miles between stops, fuel, and the accelerated wear on your vehicle. The block pay is not net income.
Why There’s No Reimbursement
Flex drivers are classified as independent contractors, not employees. You receive a 1099-NEC rather than a W-2, and Amazon is not required to provide the expense reimbursements, wage protections, or benefits that come with traditional employment. Every operating cost sits with you as the owner of a small delivery operation. Some states have challenged this classification in court, but the nationwide default still treats Flex drivers as contractors carrying their own costs.
Deducting Your Miles on Your Tax Return
Because Amazon won’t cut you a mileage check, the tax return is where you recover the cost of driving. The IRS gives you two ways to calculate the deduction, and you pick one per vehicle per year. You cannot mix them.
The Standard Mileage Rate
For 2026, the rate is 72.5 cents per mile driven for business.1Internal Revenue Service. IRS Sets 2026 Business Standard Mileage Rate at 72.5 Cents Per Mile, Up 2.5 Cents That single figure is designed to absorb depreciation, insurance, fuel, maintenance, and repairs in one number. Drive 10,000 business miles and your deduction is $7,250. Most Flex drivers use this method because it only asks you to track miles, not save every gas receipt.
The Actual Expense Method
The alternative is to add up what your vehicle actually cost you for the year: gas, oil, tires, repairs, insurance, lease payments, registration, and depreciation. Then you figure out what percentage of your total annual miles were for Flex work, and deduct that share of the total. If 60 percent of your driving was for deliveries, you deduct 60 percent of your vehicle costs. It takes more paperwork, but it can beat the standard rate if your vehicle is expensive to run or you drive very little for personal reasons.
Which Miles Count
Not every mile you drive around a Flex block is deductible. The IRS treats your first trip of the day, from home to your first work location, and your last trip, from your final stop back home, as commuting, and commuting is not a business expense.3Internal Revenue Service. Publication 463 – Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses For most Flex drivers, that means the drive to the fulfillment center or Whole Foods pickup and the drive home afterward do not count.
Miles between stops during your block always count. So do miles between two separate work locations in the same day.
There is one exception on the commuting rule. If part of your home qualifies as a home office — a space used regularly and exclusively for your delivery business as its principal place of business — then the miles from home to the pickup location become deductible business miles.3Internal Revenue Service. Publication 463 – Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses For a driver whose nearest station is a long drive away, that shift can add real money to the deduction.
Tracking Miles the Way the IRS Expects
The IRS wants three things for each trip: the date, the miles driven, and the business purpose.3Internal Revenue Service. Publication 463 – Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses The simplest approach is to note your odometer at the start and end of each block. A mileage app that logs GPS and timestamps automatically works too, and it removes the temptation to reconstruct your log at tax time from memory, which is exactly the kind of record the IRS distrusts.
If you go with actual expenses instead of the standard rate, add receipts to the list. The IRS generally requires receipts for any expense of $75 or more, and keeping the smaller ones anyway makes for a stronger file. Sort fuel, repairs, insurance, and other vehicle costs by date as you go.
Where the Deduction Goes on Your Return
Flex income and expenses both belong on Schedule C (Form 1040), which is where sole proprietors report business profit or loss. If you use the standard mileage rate and don’t otherwise need Form 4562, the vehicle information goes in Part IV of Schedule C.4Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Schedule C (Form 1040)
Line 43 asks the date you put the vehicle into service for business. Line 44 asks you to split your total annual miles into business, commuting, and other personal miles. Line 47 asks whether you have written evidence supporting the deduction.5Internal Revenue Service. Schedule C (Form 1040) 2025 A “Yes” answer with a contemporaneous log behind it is what carries the deduction if the IRS looks closely.
Other Costs Amazon Doesn’t Cover
Mileage is the largest recoverable cost for most Flex drivers, but it isn’t the only one. Several other expenses you incur because of the work are separately deductible on Schedule C:
- The business-use share of your cell phone and data plan, since the app is required to work.
- Car mounts, chargers, and hands-free devices used during blocks.
- Insulated bags, bins, flashlights, and safety gear.
- Tolls and parking fees paid during a delivery block, which Amazon does not reimburse.
If you take the standard mileage rate, you cannot also deduct gas, oil, insurance, repairs, or depreciation on top of it. Those are already inside the per-mile number. The items above sit outside vehicle operating costs and stay deductible under either method.
One Thing Amazon Does Cover: Insurance While Delivering
Amazon provides a commercial auto policy at no cost in most states while you are actively delivering. According to Amazon, it includes auto liability up to $1,000,000 per accident, uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage up to $1,000,000, and contingent collision and comprehensive coverage up to $50,000 with a $1,000 deductible (that last piece requires you to carry personal collision coverage). Passengers are not covered.6Amazon Flex. Deliver with Safety, Confidence, and Support
The gap to watch is the drive to the station and the drive home. Amazon’s commercial policy only applies while you have packages in the car and are working through the app. Many personal auto policies exclude commercial delivery use, so an accident on the way to pick up your route can leave you between two insurers who both deny the claim. Call your personal carrier and confirm your policy covers delivery driving, or ask about adding a rideshare or commercial endorsement.