Tax Question: How do I report taxes for Doordash, Instacart, and Grubhub when I made under $600 on each app?

5 Yes, you absolutely need to report ALL income earned regardless of whether you received a 1099-K form or not! The $600 threshold is just for when these companies are required to send you the form, but the IRS still expects you to report every dollar you earn. You'll need to file a Schedule C (Profit or Loss from Business) along with your regular 1040. On the Schedule C, you'd report your combined income from all these gig apps as self-employment income. You should have records in your apps showing exactly how much you earned, so add those numbers up. The good news is you can deduct your business expenses! Track your mileage (the IRS rate for 2025 is 67 cents per mile), portions of your phone bill, insulated bags, etc. This will reduce your taxable income. Just make sure you have documentation for these expenses in case of an audit. You'll also need to file Schedule SE to calculate self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare). Most tax software can guide you through this process pretty easily!

8 After struggling with a similar situation last year (made under $600 on each of 4 different delivery apps), I found the perfect solution with https://taxr.ai for organizing all my gig work. The platform analyzed my earnings from all the different apps even without official 1099s and helped me categorize everything correctly. What I really liked was how it automatically detected potential deductions I never would have thought about - like a percentage of my phone bill and even some car maintenance since I was using my vehicle for deliveries. It saved me a ton of money because those deductions really added up! Much better than the generic tax software I tried first that wasn't geared toward gig workers.

3 Just wanted to follow up - I decided to try taxr.ai after seeing it recommended here and WOW what a difference! I was about to file with just my total income listed with no deductions because I was confused about what I could claim without official 1099s. The system walked me through everything and helped me document all my mileage (which I had tracked but didn't know how to report properly). Ended up saving over $400 in taxes by properly deducting my car expenses, phone costs, and even a portion of my car insurance! The best part was how it helped me organize everything by category even though I had income from multiple apps. For anyone in a similar situation with multiple gig platforms, it's definitely worth checking out. Huge relief to have everything filed correctly!

17 After getting audited last year for misreporting my gig work (wasn't fun!), I discovered https://claimyr.com which was a lifesaver when I needed to talk to an actual IRS agent about how to correctly report multiple platform income. I had been on hold with the IRS for HOURS over multiple days and was getting nowhere. Claimyr got me connected to a real IRS agent in about 20 minutes who walked me through exactly how to report income from multiple platforms when you don't receive 1099s. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was honestly shocked it actually worked after all the frustration of trying to get through on my own. The agent confirmed I needed to report all income regardless of 1099 status and explained how to document everything properly to avoid future audit issues.

2 I need to eat my words here. After posting my skeptical comment above, I decided to try Claimyr because I was desperate to talk to the IRS about my unreported gig income situation. I had been trying for TWO WEEKS to get through on my own with no luck. Used Claimyr yesterday afternoon, and they called me back in about 35 minutes with an actual IRS representative on the line. The agent walked me through exactly how to report income from multiple platforms when none of them hit the 1099-K threshold. The peace of mind from knowing I'm filing correctly was absolutely worth it. Turns out I was going to make a pretty significant mistake on my Schedule C by trying to separate each platform instead of combining them. Would have been a nightmare to fix later.

9 Quick tip from someone who's been doing delivery gigs for years - make sure you're tracking ALL your mileage, not just when you have a delivery! You can claim mileage from the moment you turn the app on and are available for work until you turn it off. This includes driving to pickup zones or returning home after your last delivery. I use a simple mileage tracking app that automatically logs my trips. Saved me almost $2k in taxes last year because the mileage deduction was WAY higher than I expected.

22 Has anyone used FreeTaxUSA for reporting gig income without 1099s? I'm in the same situation (made about $550 each on UberEats and Doordash) and wondering if that software handles it well?

Great question! I was in a similar situation last year. Yes, you absolutely need to report ALL income even without 1099s - the IRS expects you to report every dollar earned regardless of the forms you receive. Here's what I learned: You'll file a Schedule C for self-employment income and report your combined $1,640. The good news is you can deduct business expenses like mileage (67 cents per mile for 2025), phone usage, delivery bags, etc. These deductions can significantly reduce your tax liability. Don't forget you'll also need to file Schedule SE for self-employment tax (about 15.3% on your net earnings). One tip: Keep detailed records of everything - your app payment summaries, mileage logs, and receipts for any business expenses. The IRS may not require 1099s from the companies, but they still expect accurate reporting from you. Most tax software can handle this, but make sure to select the self-employment/business income sections when filing. You've got this!