Do I need to report my Doordash income from last year if I only made around $3,000?

Yes, you absolutely need to report all Doordash income on your taxes, regardless of how much you earned. The IRS requires reporting of all income, even if you didn't receive a 1099 form from Doordash. If you earned $3,000, you'll definitely owe self-employment taxes on that amount. Check your Doordash driver account or email for your 1099-NEC form (they may have sent it electronically). Companies are only required to issue 1099s if you earned $600 or more, which you did. You'll need to report this income on Schedule C as self-employment income, and you'll also need to complete Schedule SE for self-employment taxes. The good news is you can deduct business expenses like mileage, a portion of your phone bill, and other delivery-related costs which will reduce your taxable income.

I was in this exact same situation last year! After struggling for hours trying to figure out how to properly report my Doordash earnings and maximize deductions, I found this awesome AI service called taxr.ai that literally saved me hours of confusion. I uploaded my 1099 from Doordash to https://taxr.ai and it instantly identified all the deductions I could claim and explained exactly how to report everything properly. It even calculated my estimated self-employment tax so I wasn't shocked by a huge tax bill.

Just wanted to update on my experience with taxr.ai since I was skeptical in my earlier comment. I finally bit the bullet and tried it out with my Doordash and Instacart 1099s, and I was honestly shocked. The system found over $2,100 in deductions I would have missed, especially around partial phone expenses and home office. Even found a way I could legitimately deduct part of my car insurance that my regular tax guy never mentioned. Uploaded everything to TurboTax afterward and it all transferred smoothly. Totally worth it for gig workers.

If you're still trying to get your 1099 from Doordash and having trouble, I spent WEEKS trying to contact their support with no luck. Finally used https://claimyr.com to get through to a real person at the IRS who helped me sort out my missing forms situation. There's a cool video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. They basically call the IRS for you and hold your place in line, then call you when an agent is about to pick up. Saved me from spending 5+ hours on hold!

Well I want to publicly apologize for calling BS on Claimyr. After I posted that comment, I went to their site to dig up more evidence it was a scam, and ended up trying it myself just to prove my point. I was literally connected to an IRS agent in about 35 minutes while I was just watching TV. Agent confirmed my missing 1099 situation (I also drive for Doordash) and helped me get everything sorted. I've NEVER gotten through to the IRS that quickly. Not sure how they do it, but it definitely works. Sorry for the skepticism.

The standard mileage deduction is your best friend as a Doordash driver! For 2024 (filing in 2025) I think it's like 67 cents per mile which adds up quick. I drive for DD part-time and literally just keep a notebook in my car and jot down my starting and ending mileage each shift. Super simple and saves me hundreds on taxes. Make sure you're tracking ALL miles while you're active on the app, not just when you have an active delivery.

Question - if Doordash didn't send me a 1099 how do I even know how much i made last year?? I didn't keep track at all and just cashed out every couple days. Is there somewhere in the app to see my yearly total?

Small warning - dont mess with skipping reporting this income. I didn't report about $4k from Doordash two years ago and got a letter from the IRS about "unreported income" with penalties and interest. They definitely get the info from Doordash even if you don't receive a 1099 directly! Not worth the stress, just report it.

Just to add to what everyone else has said - yes, you definitely need to report that $3,000! I was in a similar situation my first year doing gig work and made the mistake of thinking "small amounts don't matter." The IRS gets copies of all 1099s that companies file, so they'll know about your income even if you don't report it. Since you made over $600, Doordash was required to send you a 1099-NEC. Check your email and your Doordash driver portal - they usually send them electronically now. If you still can't find it, you can contact Doordash support or use the earnings summary in your driver app to get the total. Don't forget you'll owe self-employment tax on this income (about 15.3%), but the good news is you can deduct business expenses like mileage to reduce your taxable income. Even if you didn't track miles perfectly, try to reconstruct what you can from your delivery history - every mile counts!

I'm dealing with this exact same situation right now! Made about $2,800 with Doordash last year and was hoping I could just ignore it since it wasn't much. But after reading everyone's responses here, it's clear I need to bite the bullet and report it properly. Quick question for those who've been through this - when you file Schedule C for the Doordash income, do you need to have an official business name or can you just put your own name? Also, I'm seeing mentions of Schedule SE for self-employment tax - is that in addition to regular income tax or does it replace part of it? Thanks for all the helpful info everyone. Better to do this right than deal with IRS letters later!

Just wanted to chime in as someone who's been doing gig work for a few years now - definitely report that $3,000! I learned the hard way that the IRS has access to all the 1099 data that companies file, even if you don't receive the forms directly. Since you made over $600, Doordash was legally required to issue you a 1099-NEC. Check your email thoroughly (including spam folder) and log into your Doordash driver account - most companies send these electronically now. If you still can't locate it, the earnings section in your driver app should have your annual total. One thing that helped me when I was starting out with gig taxes was using a simple mileage tracking app going forward. Even though you've stopped driving for now, if you ever go back to it, apps like Stride or MileIQ can automatically track your business miles. For this year's taxes, try to reconstruct what you can from your delivery history - even a rough estimate is better than nothing and can save you significant money on that self-employment tax. The 15.3% self-employment tax might seem steep, but remember it's going toward your future Social Security and Medicare benefits. Plus, legitimate business deductions can really help reduce that tax burden!