Two side gig jobs: Do I need to pay taxes if only one exceeds $600?
I work full-time at a regular job where I get a W-2, but I've been doing some side hustle work on weekends through UberEats and Instacart, mainly Instacart. I definitely earned over $600 with Instacart (around $780), so I know they'll send me a 1099. But with UberEats, I've only made about $480 so far, which means no 1099 from them. My question is - since I won't get a 1099 from UberEats because it's under $600, do I still have to pay taxes on that $480 income? I'm confused because when I add all my gig income together (Instacart + UberEats), it's well over the $600 threshold. Does it matter that it's from two different companies, or is it just the total independent contractor income that counts for tax purposes?
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Gavin King
Yes, you need to report ALL income earned, regardless of whether you receive a 1099 or not. The $600 threshold is just for the company's reporting requirement to the IRS - it doesn't affect your obligation to report the income. Even though UberEats won't send you a 1099 for earnings under $600, that money is still considered taxable income that you're legally required to report on your tax return. You'll report all your self-employment income on Schedule C, combining both the Instacart and UberEats earnings. Keep good records of your UberEats income even without a 1099. The app should provide earnings statements you can use. Also track any business expenses for both gigs - mileage is usually the biggest deduction for delivery drivers, so make sure you're logging your miles!
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Nathan Kim
•Thanks for explaining! Does this mean I should be keeping track of gas, car maintenance, phone bills etc for tax purposes? And what about mileage - can I claim both mileage AND gas or is it one or the other?
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Gavin King
•You can track all your business expenses, but for vehicle costs you have to choose either the standard mileage deduction OR actual expenses (gas, maintenance, etc). Most gig drivers find the standard mileage rate more beneficial and much simpler to track - just log your starting and ending odometer readings for each shift. For other expenses like a portion of your phone bill, phone mounts, hot bags, etc - you can deduct those regardless of which vehicle method you choose. Just make sure they're used primarily for business purposes and keep your receipts.
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Eleanor Foster
I went through this exact same situation last year with multiple gig apps. What saved me was using https://taxr.ai to analyze all my income sources and make sure I was reporting everything correctly. It automatically reviewed all my gig platforms (even the ones under $600) and helped me identify which expenses I could legitimately deduct. The tool showed me that I actually needed to report ALL my income regardless of the 1099 threshold, but also found deductions I was missing that saved me way more than I expected. Seriously made the whole process painless compared to the mess I dealt with the previous year.
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Lucas Turner
•How does it work with the apps that don't send 1099s? Do you just manually enter that income or does it somehow connect to those accounts too?
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Kai Rivera
•Sounds interesting but I'm skeptical of tax tools that aren't named TurboTax or H&R Block. Does it actually file your taxes or just give advice? And how does it handle things like quarterly estimated payments for gig workers?
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Eleanor Foster
•It connects to all the major gig platforms so it can pull income data even when they don't issue 1099s - saved me tons of time not having to manually input everything. You authorize it to securely access your accounts and it does the rest. It doesn't file your taxes directly but creates a comprehensive report you can use with whatever tax filing method you prefer. It's especially helpful for quarterly estimated payments because it tracks your ongoing income and expenses throughout the year and sends alerts when you should make payments to avoid penalties.
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Kai Rivera
Just wanted to update after trying https://taxr.ai that was mentioned earlier. I was really surprised at how well it worked! It pulled all my gig income seamlessly - even from the platforms that didn't issue 1099s. What really helped was how it categorized all my expenses properly and showed me deductions I would have completely missed (like a portion of my phone bill and even my insulated delivery bags). The quarterly tax payment calculator is already saving me from the underpayment penalty I got hit with last year. Definitely changed my mind about trying new tax tools - this one's specifically built for gig workers and it shows.
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Anna Stewart
If you're having trouble getting answers directly from the IRS about your gig income reporting, try https://claimyr.com to get through to an actual IRS agent quickly. I spent WEEKS trying to get someone on the phone about my mixed W-2/1099 situation last year before finding them. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c It's insane how quickly they got me through when I'd been trying for days on my own. The agent I spoke with confirmed that yes, ALL income is taxable regardless of the 1099 threshold, but also helped me understand how to properly categorize my different gig jobs on my Schedule C. Worth every penny for the clarity alone.
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Layla Sanders
•Wait, you pay someone else to call the IRS for you? How does that even work? Wouldn't they need all your personal info?
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Morgan Washington
•This sounds like a scam. Nobody can get through the IRS phone system that easily. I've tried calling dozens of times about my gig worker taxes and gave up. How could a third party possibly do better than calling directly?
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Anna Stewart
•They don't call the IRS for you - they hold your place in line. Their system navigates the IRS phone tree and waits on hold, then when an agent picks up, you get a call to connect with the agent. You don't share any personal tax info with the service itself. The reason it works better than calling yourself is they have technology that constantly dials and navigates the IRS system across multiple lines simultaneously, so you're essentially getting the benefit of dozens of attempts at once. I was skeptical too until I tried it - got connected to an IRS agent in about 45 minutes when I'd previously wasted hours and never got through.
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Morgan Washington
I have to admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After my skeptical comment earlier, I was desperate enough to try it before the tax deadline. It actually worked! Got through to an IRS agent in under an hour after trying for weeks on my own. The agent confirmed what others here said - all gig income is taxable regardless of whether you get a 1099 or not. But she also walked me through exactly how to report multiple gig jobs on the same Schedule C (you can combine them if they're similar businesses) and helped me understand how the qualified business income deduction applies to my situation. Saved me from making a costly mistake on my return and probably from an audit too.
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Kaylee Cook
Just a heads up from personal experience - even if you don't get a 1099 from a company, the IRS might still know about the income. A lot of payment processors report transaction data to the IRS even when the companies themselves don't issue 1099s. I found this out the hard way when I got a CP2000 notice about "unreported income" from a gig platform that never sent me a 1099. Ended up paying penalties and interest.
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Oliver Alexander
•Does this apply to cash tips too? I do food delivery and some customers tip in cash. No way for IRS to know about those right???
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Kaylee Cook
•Cash tips technically need to be reported as income, but you're right that there's no direct reporting mechanism for those to the IRS. However, digital tips through the apps are definitely tracked and potentially reportable data, even when below the 1099 threshold. The bigger concern is digital payments that seem "invisible" but aren't. Even if you don't get a 1099, services like Venmo, Cash App, and PayPal are now required to report to the IRS if you receive over $600 in commercial transactions per year. So the money trail is increasingly visible to tax authorities, even without traditional 1099 forms.
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Lara Woods
What about expenses though? I deliver for multiple apps too and spend so much on gas and car maintenance that I barely make any profit. Do I still need to pay taxes if my expenses basically cancel out the income?
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Gavin King
•You only pay taxes on your profit (income minus expenses), not on your gross income. So if your legitimate business expenses truly offset your income, you might not owe any taxes - but you still need to report all the income and expenses on Schedule C. Make sure you're tracking everything carefully and taking all deductions you're entitled to. As mentioned earlier, for vehicle expenses you can either take the standard mileage rate (which is usually better for gig drivers) OR actual expenses like gas and maintenance, but not both. You'll also need to account for the business percentage of use for your vehicle.
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Amelia Martinez
This is a really common misconception! The $600 threshold only determines whether a company has to send YOU a 1099 form - it has nothing to do with whether the income is taxable. Every dollar you earn from any source is technically taxable income that needs to be reported to the IRS. So yes, you absolutely need to report that $480 from UberEats along with your $780 from Instacart. The fact that they're from different companies doesn't matter - you'll combine all your gig income on Schedule C as self-employment income. Make sure you're tracking your expenses too! Since you're doing delivery work, your biggest deduction will likely be mileage. Keep a log of your business miles for both apps - you can use the standard mileage rate which is currently 67 cents per mile for 2024. Also track other business expenses like phone bills, delivery bags, etc. One more thing - since you're earning over $400 in self-employment income total, you'll also need to pay self-employment taxes (Social Security and Medicare) on top of regular income tax. Consider making quarterly estimated tax payments to avoid penalties next year!
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