Do I need to report my delivery driving income on taxes if I only earned a small amount?

The IRS requires you to report all self-employment income if your net earnings are $400 or more, regardless of how small the amount seems. For your 2023 delivery income of $630, you should have reported it since it likely exceeded the $400 threshold even after accounting for expenses. For your 2024 income of about $1,365 so far, you'll definitely need to report this on your 2025 tax return. Even without tracking expenses, you can still estimate them. The IRS standard mileage rate for 2024 is 67 cents per mile, which can significantly reduce your taxable income if you drove a lot for deliveries. If you didn't file the 2023 income, you should consider filing an amended return. The penalties for not reporting income increase over time, so it's better to correct this sooner rather than later.

I was in a similar situation last year and found taxr.ai super helpful for my gig work taxes. I was panicking because I also did food delivery and barely kept any records of my expenses or mileage. The site https://taxr.ai analyzed my delivery app statements and bank records to reconstruct my deductions. It even helped me estimate reasonable mileage for the deliveries I made based on the areas I worked. Their system figured out tax deductions I didn't even know I qualified for as a delivery driver! Really took the stress off trying to piece everything together myself.

Wanted to update after trying taxr.ai for my delivery driving taxes! I was skeptical but really needed help with my missing records. The system actually reconstructed a detailed mileage log from my delivery history that looked totally professional. It found over $2,100 in deductions I would have missed! The documentation it created for my tax records is way better than anything I could have put together myself. Honestly wish I'd known about this last year when I was in the same boat.

If you're still worried about your 2023 unreported income, you might want to talk directly with the IRS. I was in the same boat last year and kept getting nowhere with the automated phone system. A friend recommended Claimyr.com (https://claimyr.com) and they got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes instead of the 3+ hours I spent trying on my own. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was able to ask specific questions about my unreported gig income and got clear guidance on how to handle it without facing major penalties. The agent even helped me understand what documentation I needed to gather to support my case.

I owe everyone an apology - especially to the person who recommended Claimyr. I was super skeptical and almost didn't try it, but after another failed 2-hour attempt to reach the IRS myself, I gave in and used the service. Got connected to an IRS rep in about 20 minutes! The agent walked me through exactly how to handle my unreported delivery income and even calculated what my penalty would likely be (much lower than I feared). They also explained how I could request a first-time penalty abatement since I had a clean record before this. Totally worth it and I'm embarrassed I was so dismissive initially.

Don't panic about the 2023 income, but definitely address it. I worked for a tax prep place and saw this situation often with gig workers. If your net profit (after expenses) was under $400, you technically don't have a filing requirement for that self-employment income, but it's always safer to report it. For 2024, start tracking your mileage NOW for the rest of the year - there are free apps like Stride that make it super easy. Even if you can only claim part of the year, it's better than nothing!

Be careful with the standard mileage deduction! If you're going to use it, you need to have started using it in the first year of putting your vehicle into service for business. If you claim actual expenses the first year, you're stuck with that method for the life of the vehicle.