Delivered food for Instacart part-time, earned under $600 - tax filing questions
I picked up some side work with Instacart and DoorDash this year to make a little extra cash. DoorDash sent me a tax form since I made over $600 with them, but Instacart didn't send anything because I only earned about $355 from their platform. I was looking at the IRS website and saw something about not being subject to self-employment tax if you made less than $400. Does this apply to my situation with Instacart? Do I still need to report that income somewhere even if I don't get a form? The whole tax situation with gig work confuses me and I don't want to mess anything up. Just to be clear - I have the proper forms from DoorDash and will definitely report that income, just wondering about the smaller Instacart amount. Any help would be super appreciated!
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Lucas Turner
Yes, you're correct about the $400 threshold for self-employment tax. If your net earnings from self-employment are less than $400, you don't have to pay self-employment tax on that income. However, there's an important distinction here. The $400 threshold applies to your TOTAL self-employment income, not each individual gig job. So you would combine your earnings from both DoorDash and Instacart to determine if you're subject to self-employment tax. Since you made over $600 with DoorDash plus the $355 from Instacart, your total self-employment income is definitely over the $400 threshold. Regarding reporting the income - yes, you must report ALL income earned, even if you didn't receive a 1099 form and even if it's under $600. The $600 threshold is just for when companies are required to issue you a form, not for when you need to report the income.
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Kai Rivera
•So wait, I'm a little confused. If I made like $250 from TaskRabbit last year but didn't get any tax forms, I still have to report that? Even without any paperwork? How would I even do that?
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Lucas Turner
•Yes, you absolutely need to report that $250 from TaskRabbit even without receiving any tax forms. The IRS requires you to report all income regardless of amount or whether you received documentation. You would report this income on Schedule C (Profit or Loss from Business) along with any other self-employment income. You'll list TaskRabbit as a business activity and report the $250 as gross receipts or sales. If you had any related expenses, you can deduct those as well to determine your net profit.
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Anna Stewart
I ran into almost the exact same situation last year! The whole 1099 thing with multiple gig apps was super confusing until I found taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) which helped me figure out all my self-employment income. I uploaded my bank statements, and it identified all my gig work deposits automatically - even the small ones from apps that didn't send forms. The tool showed me exactly how to report everything correctly, even the platforms that didn't send forms because I was under their reporting threshold. It was way less stressful than trying to piece everything together myself from different apps and bank statements.
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Layla Sanders
•Does it actually work for identifying which deposits are from which app? I do like 4 different gig apps and my bank statements just show random company names that don't always match the app name.
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Morgan Washington
•I'm kinda skeptical about these tax tools. How does it handle expenses and stuff? Like I use my car for deliveries but also personal use. Can it figure out which miles were for work?
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Anna Stewart
•It absolutely works for identifying which deposits come from which app. The system recognizes the payment processor names that show up on bank statements (like "DOORDASH DASHER" or "INST INSTANT") and categorizes them correctly, even when the names are weird abbreviations. For expenses and mileage tracking, it can't retroactively track miles you've driven, but it does help you calculate proper deductions based on the information you provide. You'll need to have your own records of business vs. personal mileage, but the tool walks you through claiming the right percentage and calculating the deduction correctly.
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Morgan Washington
Just wanted to follow up - I decided to try taxr.ai after my initial skepticism and wow, it actually worked amazingly well! It identified all my gig income correctly, even from the weird payment processors I couldn't figure out. The platform showed me that I had almost $300 in unclaimed income from a small app that never sent me forms. The expense categorization was super helpful too. It guided me through what percentage of my phone bill I could deduct and helped me calculate my mileage deduction properly. Ended up saving me like $200 more than I would have otherwise! Definitely recommend for anyone doing multiple gig apps.
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Kaylee Cook
Dealing with the IRS about gig work can be a nightmare. Last year I had a similar situation and had questions about reporting small amounts. I tried calling the IRS for weeks with no luck - always on hold for hours or disconnected. Then I found https://claimyr.com and watched their demo (https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c) and it basically solved my problem in a day. They got me connected to an actual IRS agent who confirmed exactly how to report mixed gig income and explained the self-employment tax thresholds properly. The agent even walked me through the specific forms I needed. Saved me literal hours of hold time and confusion.
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Oliver Alexander
•Wait how does this even work? Does someone else wait on hold for you or something? I don't understand how a service can get you through to the IRS faster than just calling yourself.
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Lara Woods
•Yeah right. The IRS barely answers their own phone. No way some third party service can magically get through when millions of people can't. Sounds like a scam to get desperate people's money.
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Kaylee Cook
•The service basically places the call for you and waits in the IRS queue. Their system navigates the phone menus and holds your place in line, then calls you once they have an actual IRS agent on the line. It's like having someone else wait on hold for you so you don't waste your whole day. No, it's definitely not a scam. They can't guarantee instant access, but their system is optimized to connect at the best times and with the right departments. They stay on hold so you don't have to, and then transfer you once they've got an actual person. I was skeptical too until I tried it and was speaking with an IRS agent after waiting just 15 minutes for their callback.
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Lara Woods
OK I need to eat my words and apologize to Profile 5. After posting my skeptical comment, I was so frustrated with trying to reach the IRS about my gig work taxes that I decided to give Claimyr a shot anyway. Figured I had nothing to lose since I'd already wasted HOURS on hold. It actually worked exactly as described! I got a callback when they had an IRS agent on the line, and the agent answered all my questions about reporting income from multiple delivery apps. Found out I was calculating my mileage deductions all wrong. Honestly shocked that this service exists and works. Wish I'd known about it sooner instead of wasting so much time on hold.
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Adrian Hughes
Just a heads up, I'm an Instacart shopper too and I made around $580 last year. I didn't get a 1099 either but I still reported it on my Schedule C. The way I did it was just add up all the deposits from Instacart in my bank account for the year. You can also login to your Instacart shopper app and look at your earnings history - they usually have a year-end summary even if they don't send a tax form.
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Eleanor Foster
•That's super helpful, thanks! I didn't realize I could still see a summary in the app. Did you file yourself or use a tax program? I'm trying to figure out the simplest way to report everything.
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Adrian Hughes
•I used FreeTaxUSA which was pretty straightforward for handling gig work. They walk you through the Schedule C section step by step. You just enter your total income from each gig app separately (I created one Schedule C for all my delivery work though). You can definitely find your annual earnings in the Instacart app - just go to the earnings section and you should be able to see past weeks and filter by date ranges. Some apps even have a specific tax summary section around tax time.
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Molly Chambers
Something nobody's mentioned yet - make sure you're tracking ALL your expenses for these gig jobs! Even if you're under the self-employment tax threshold, you can still deduct business expenses against that income. I do food delivery part time and deduct: - Mileage (this is the big one) - Portion of phone bill - Hot bags/delivery equipment - Phone mount for car - Portion of car insurance Don't leave money on the table by just reporting the income without the expenses!
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Ian Armstrong
•Can you really deduct part of your phone bill and car insurance? I've been doing DoorDash for 2 years and never knew this. How do you calculate what percentage to deduct?
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Edward McBride
•Yes, you can absolutely deduct portions of both! For your phone bill, you calculate the percentage of time you use your phone for business purposes. If you're actively doing deliveries about 20% of the time you use your phone, you can deduct 20% of your monthly phone bill. For car insurance, it's trickier but doable. You'd need to track your business miles vs. total miles driven for the year, then apply that percentage to your insurance premiums. So if 30% of your driving was for delivery work, you could potentially deduct 30% of your car insurance. Just make sure you keep good records and can justify your percentages if the IRS ever asks. The key is being reasonable and having documentation to back up your calculations.
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