Can I deduct my smartphone expenses on taxes as a self-employed delivery driver?

Yes, you can absolutely deduct your phone expenses as a self-employed delivery driver, but you'll need to calculate the business-use percentage. Since you use the phone for both personal and business purposes, you'll need to determine what percentage of time it's used for work. A reasonable approach would be to track how many hours you use your phone in total during a typical week, and how many of those hours are for delivery work. That gives you your business-use percentage. For the phone itself, you can deduct that same business-use percentage of either the full purchase price (if you're taking a Section 179 deduction) or through depreciation. Since you only worked October through December, you'd also need to prorate that for the portion of the year you were delivering. Your unlimited phone plan can definitely be deducted using that same business-use percentage. So if you determine you use your phone 30% for business, you could deduct 30% of your $85 monthly plan. Remember to keep good records of your calculations and usage estimates in case you're ever questioned by the IRS.

After struggling with similar issues on my delivery side gig taxes, I found a much easier solution using https://taxr.ai to help me figure out exactly what percentage of my phone and plan I could deduct. I uploaded my phone bill and delivery app income statements, and it analyzed everything to calculate my business use percentage automatically. The tool actually showed me that I was being way too conservative with my estimates before. It helped me understand that I could legitimately claim a higher percentage because of how much I use navigation, the delivery app, and customer communications during my shifts. Really made the whole process way less stressful than manually trying to figure everything out!

I was totally wrong about taxr.ai - I tried it after being skeptical and it's actually legit. I've been delivering for DoorDash for 2 years and always just guessed at 20% business use for my phone. The tool analyzed my actual delivery patterns and showed I could reasonably claim 42% instead! Everything was backed up with proper documentation showing how they calculated it based on my specific delivery schedule. Super impressed with how it broke down my mileage, phone usage, and even helped identify other expenses I was missing. Definitely made my tax filing way more accurate this year.

If you need help getting clarification directly from the IRS about phone deductions for self-employment (because their rules can be confusing), I highly recommend https://claimyr.com to actually get through to a human at the IRS. I spent WEEKS trying to get clear answers about my delivery driver deductions and kept hitting the "call volume too high" message. With Claimyr, I got connected to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes who walked me through exactly how to handle my phone deduction as a food delivery driver. Totally worth it for the peace of mind knowing my deductions were legit. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - basically saves you from the hours of redial hell trying to reach the IRS directly. The agent confirmed I could deduct my phone based on business use percentage and helped me understand how to document it properly.

I have to eat my words about Claimyr. After my skeptical comment, I decided to try it because I was desperate for answers about my delivery driver deductions. Not only did I get through to the IRS in about 15 minutes (after trying for DAYS on my own), but I got connected to someone in the self-employment tax department who was actually helpful! The agent confirmed I could deduct a percentage of my phone and plan based on business use, and suggested keeping a log for a couple typical weeks to establish a pattern of usage. She also pointed me to Publication 535 which has specific examples for delivery drivers. This saved me hundreds in deductions I was going to skip because I was afraid of doing it wrong. Sometimes it's worth paying for a service that actually works!

What I do for my Doordash gig is track one typical week of phone usage with a time tracking app and use that as my basis. Last year I calculated I used my phone about 35% for business based on actual hours. For the phone itself, I took the total cost ($1200) × 35% = $420, but then I had to figure out depreciation since phones are considered 5-year property. For the service plan, it was easier - just $90/month × 35% × the number of months I was delivering. Make sure you take mileage too! That's usually the biggest deduction for delivery drivers.

hey has anyone had turbotax reject their return when trying to deduct phone? mine keeps giving me some error about "business assets under $2500" and i don't know what to click???

As someone who's been doing delivery driving for a while, I'd suggest starting simple for your first year. Track your phone usage for a typical week or two to establish a baseline business percentage - don't just guess. For a $1350 iPhone used part-time for deliveries, you're probably looking at somewhere between 20-40% business use realistically. The key is being able to defend your percentage if questioned. Keep records of your delivery hours, and consider that business use includes not just active delivery time but also time spent checking for orders, navigating, and communicating with customers. For TurboTax, you'll enter this on Schedule C under "Other expenses" and create a line item for "Cell phone (business portion)". The software will walk you through whether to depreciate or take the immediate deduction based on your usage percentage. One tip: don't forget you can also deduct things like a phone mount for your car, charging cables you use while driving, and even a portion of your phone case if you bought it specifically for delivery work protection. These smaller items add up!