Driving for Uber Eats makes you self-employed in the eyes of the IRS, and Uber Eats self-employment taxes work differently from anything withheld on a normal paycheck: you owe 15.3% self-employment tax on your net earnings above $400, plus federal income tax on top of that, and nothing comes out of your deposits automatically. You report the income on Schedule C, calculate the self-employment tax on Schedule SE, and generally send the IRS estimated payments four times a year.
The rest of this walks through what you owe, what forms you’ll get (or won’t), what you can deduct, and the deadlines that carry penalties if you miss them.
Why Nothing Is Withheld From Your Uber Eats Pay
Uber Eats classifies drivers as independent contractors, not employees. You choose your hours, use your own car and phone, and cover your own gas and insurance. Because there’s no employer-employee relationship, Uber Eats doesn’t withhold income tax, Social Security, or Medicare from your delivery earnings. That entire tax bill lands on you at filing time unless you’ve been paying it in pieces during the year.
One consequence worth naming: contractor status also means the federal minimum wage and overtime rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act don’t apply to your delivery work.1U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 13: Employee or Independent Contractor Classification Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
How Self-Employment Tax Works
Self-employment tax covers both halves of Social Security and Medicare that a regular employer would normally split with you. The total rate is 15.3%: 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC Ch. 2 Tax on Self-Employment Income You owe it once your net profit from deliveries — gross earnings minus business expenses — exceeds $400 for the year. For most active drivers, that threshold gets crossed quickly.
This is separate from federal income tax, which applies to the same net profit based on your overall tax bracket. Setting aside somewhere around 25 to 30 cents on every dollar earned (roughly 15 for self-employment tax, the rest for income tax) is a reasonable rough cushion, though the exact right number depends on your total income and deductions.
There’s one built-in break: you can deduct half of your self-employment tax when figuring your adjusted gross income. That deduction is calculated on Schedule SE and reported on Schedule 1 of your 1040.3Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 554, Self-Employment Tax It reduces your income tax, not your self-employment tax.
Additional Medicare Tax for High Earners
If your net self-employment income tops $200,000 in a year, or $250,000 filing jointly, an extra 0.9% Medicare tax applies to the amount above the threshold.4Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 560, Additional Medicare Tax Uber Eats alone rarely puts a driver there, but combining gig income with a W-2 job can.
The Tax Forms Uber Eats May Send You
Two forms are possible, and it’s common to receive one, both, or neither.
Form 1099-NEC
You’ll receive a 1099-NEC if Uber Eats paid you at least $600 in non-employee compensation outside the regular delivery payment stream. That usually covers referral bonuses and promotional incentives. It must be furnished to you by January 31.5Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC
Form 1099-K
Your regular delivery payments run through the app, and those are reported on Form 1099-K. Under current law, the platform only has to issue one if your gross payments exceed $20,000 and you had more than 200 transactions during the year. Both conditions have to be met.6Internal Revenue Service. IRS Issues FAQs on Form 1099-K Threshold Under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill
No Form Doesn’t Mean No Tax
Plenty of part-time drivers earn less than these thresholds and get nothing in the mail. The IRS still expects you to report every dollar. If you made $5,000 in deliveries and no 1099 arrived, that $5,000 is still taxable. Your total earnings show up in the Uber Eats driver dashboard, and that’s the figure to use.
Deductions Every Delivery Driver Should Know
Deductions reduce your net profit, which cuts both your income tax and your self-employment tax. Tracking them as you go beats reconstructing a year of receipts in April.
Vehicle Costs
Your car is almost certainly your biggest deduction. The IRS standard mileage rate for business driving in 2026 is 72.5 cents per mile.7Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Standard Mileage Rates Every mile from heading to the restaurant through drop-off counts as business mileage. Miles logged while you’re online and waiting for a request may qualify too, but you need records that support the claim.
You have two methods. The standard mileage rate multiplies business miles by 72.5 cents. Actual expenses instead lets you deduct gas, insurance, repairs, depreciation, and registration in proportion to business use. If you own the car, you have to pick the standard mileage rate the first year you use it for business; after that first year you can switch between methods.8Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 510, Business Use of Car You cannot combine the two in the same year.
Phone and Data
The business-use share of your phone bill is deductible. If you use the phone 60% for deliveries, 60% of the monthly bill comes off. Hang onto the statements so the percentage you claim is defensible.
Equipment and Supplies
Insulated bags, phone mounts, safety gear, and anything else bought for delivery work counts. If you deliver by bike, that includes helmets, locks, lights, and maintenance. Keep receipts even for small items.
Home Office
If you use a specific area of your home exclusively and regularly for business tasks like mileage tracking and bookkeeping, you may qualify for the home office deduction. The simplified method is $5 per square foot up to 300 square feet, so a maximum of $1,500.9Internal Revenue Service. Simplified Option for Home Office Deduction A kitchen table you also eat at doesn’t qualify. The space has to be business-only.
Health Insurance Premiums
If you buy your own health insurance and aren’t eligible for coverage through a spouse’s employer plan, you can deduct premiums as an adjustment to income. Coverage for you, your spouse, dependents, and children under 27 all qualify. You need net self-employment profit for the year, and the deduction can’t exceed that profit.10Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 502, Medical and Dental Expenses
Qualified Business Income Deduction
The Section 199A qualified business income deduction lets eligible self-employed people deduct up to 20% of their net business income from taxable income. Sole proprietors filing Schedule C, including delivery drivers, can claim it. The deduction was made permanent by the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act signed in 2025.11Internal Revenue Service. Qualified Business Income Deduction For most drivers with modest income, the full 20% applies without phase-outs. It cuts your income tax, not your self-employment tax.
Keeping Records the IRS Will Accept
The IRS can ask you to prove any deduction, and “I drove a lot” won’t cut it. For mileage, keep a log with the date, start and end points, and total miles for each trip, plus odometer readings at the start and end of the year. Several free apps track this automatically. For every other expense, save receipts as photos or scans and group them by category so the totals transfer cleanly onto your tax forms. If you go with actual vehicle expenses instead of the mileage rate, you’ll need every gas, oil change, insurance, and repair receipt along with your total-versus-business-mile breakdown.
The Forms You’ll File
Your delivery income lands on several schedules attached to Form 1040:
- Schedule C reports your gross Uber Eats earnings and business expenses; the bottom line is your net profit or loss.
- Schedule SE calculates self-employment tax on that net profit, and is where the deductible half of the tax is figured.12Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes)
- Schedule 1 reports the deductible half of self-employment tax and other adjustments to income, such as the health insurance deduction.
- Form 8995 or 8995-A claims the QBI deduction.
Net profit from Schedule C feeds both Schedule SE (for self-employment tax) and Form 1040 (for income tax). The two calculations run in parallel; one doesn’t replace the other.
Quarterly Estimated Tax Payments
If you expect to owe $1,000 or more in total tax for the year after withholding and refundable credits, you generally need to make estimated payments four times a year.13Internal Revenue Service. Estimated Taxes For the 2026 tax year the due dates are April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15, 2027.14Internal Revenue Service. Publication 509 (2026), Tax Calendars If a due date lands on a weekend or holiday, it moves to the next business day.
Pay online through IRS Direct Pay or mail Form 1040-ES with a check. Each installment should cover roughly a quarter of your expected annual tax. If your income swings by season, the annualized installment method on Form 2210 lets you match each payment to what you actually earned that quarter.
The annual return itself is due April 15, 2026 for the 2025 tax year. Form 4868 gets you an automatic six-month extension to file, but it doesn’t extend the time to pay. Anything owed is still due April 15, and interest accrues on unpaid balances.15Internal Revenue Service. When to File
Penalties for Missing Deadlines
Failure-to-file and failure-to-pay are separate penalties, and they stack.
- Failure to file: 5% of the unpaid tax per month or partial month, capped at 25%.16Internal Revenue Service. Failure to File Penalty
- Failure to pay: 0.5% of the unpaid tax per month, also capped at 25%. On an approved IRS payment plan, that drops to 0.25% per month.17Internal Revenue Service. Failure to Pay Penalty
- Underpayment of estimated tax: interest on each shortfall for the days it stays unpaid. The rate for the period ending April 15, 2026 is 7%.13Internal Revenue Service. Estimated Taxes
The failure-to-file penalty is ten times the failure-to-pay penalty each month, so if you can’t cover the full bill, file on time and pay what you can. Never skip filing.
State and Local Taxes Aren’t Included Above
Federal is only part of the picture. Most states with an income tax require self-employed individuals to file a state return and pay state income tax on net earnings, and Uber Eats doesn’t withhold state tax either. Depending on the state, you may owe quarterly estimated payments there as well. Rates and rules vary widely, and a few states have no income tax at all. Some cities and counties also require a general business license for self-employed work, gig work included, so it’s worth checking with your local government office before assuming you’re clear.