When do I need to report Doordash earnings on my taxes?

Wait so what if I make like $450 from Doordash but less than $600? Would I need to file taxes even though I won't get a 1099? And how would the IRS even know I made that money if there's no 1099?

Yes, if you make over $400 in self-employment income, you're required to file and pay self-employment taxes, even without receiving a 1099. The $400 threshold is for self-employment tax requirements, while the $600 threshold is just for when companies must send you a 1099 form. As for how the IRS would know - they might not immediately, but that doesn't make it legal to not report. If you're ever audited, Doordash has records of all payments made to you. The IRS can request those records during an audit, even if no 1099 was issued. It's always better to follow tax law rather than trying to fly under the radar.

Did you have to pay a lot in taxes? I'm doing Doordash too and heard you can deduct mileage but not sure how to track it or if it's worth the hassle if I'm only making a few hundred bucks.

I'm skeptical about these tax tools. Couldn't you just google this info for free? Why pay for something when the IRS website has all this info?

I ended up paying much less than I expected because of the deductions. The standard mileage deduction is huge - for 2023 it was 65.5 cents per mile which adds up fast. I used a free app to track my miles while delivering and it saved me a lot. The IRS website does have info, but it's complicated and hard to understand. What I liked about taxr.ai was that it explained everything in simple terms and showed me exactly what applied to my situation. I missed a ton of deductions when I tried figuring it out on my own. Plus it stored all my documentation in one place in case I ever get audited.

How much does this service cost? Seems weird to pay money just to talk to the IRS when it's their job to help taxpayers for free.

No way this actually works. I've tried everything to get through to the IRS and always end up waiting for hours or getting disconnected. If this actually worked, everyone would be using it.

The fee is way less than what I would have lost in wages sitting on hold for hours. Think about it - if you value your time at even minimum wage, spending 3-4 hours on hold costs you more than the service. Plus, you can do other things while waiting for their callback. It absolutely works. That's why I shared the video demo link so you can see it in action. I was super skeptical too, but after trying to reach the IRS myself multiple times and getting disconnected, I was desperate. The service connected me with an agent in about 15 minutes after my initial setup. They just use some clever technology to navigate the phone system and stay on hold in your place.

This is super helpful! I didn't even think about tracking miles or that I could deduct things like phone mounts. Do I need to keep physical receipts or is a digital copy okay? And do I need to track which miles are specifically for Doordash vs personal?

Digital receipts are totally fine! I take pictures of all my receipts and save them in a folder on my phone. The IRS accepts digital records as long as they show the date, amount, and what was purchased. And yes, you need to track which miles are for Doordash specifically. Only business miles are deductible, not personal ones. That's why apps like Stride are great - you can start tracking when you begin your shift and stop when you're done. Some people also keep a small notebook in their car and write down their odometer reading at the start and end of each shift. Either method works as long as you're consistent and have records if you ever get audited.

That's for 1099-K which is different from 1099-NEC. The 1099-K is for payment processors like PayPal or when you're paid through a credit card processor. Doordash and other gig companies usually send 1099-NEC (Non-Employee Compensation) which has always had the $600 threshold. But you're right that all income is technically taxable regardless of whether you get a form.

This is exactly the kind of real-world experience I needed to hear! I'm in such a similar situation - also a college student trying to figure out gig work taxes for the first time. Your point about tracking everything from day one really resonates with me. I've been kind of lazy about it so far, just checking my earnings in the Doordash app occasionally, but you're right that $400 can sneak up on you faster than expected. I'm curious - when you had to reconstruct your mileage records, how did you go about it? Did you use your Google Maps history or something like that? I'm worried I might already be behind on tracking since I've done about 15 delivery shifts without keeping detailed records. Also, did you end up owing taxes or did the mileage deduction actually help you break even? Thanks for the heads up about the audit risk too. I hadn't really thought about the fact that Doordash keeps records of everything even if they don't send me a 1099. Definitely motivates me to get organized and do this right from the start!

@Aisha Khan Yes, I actually used Google Maps timeline to reconstruct some of my mileage! If you have location history turned on, it s'incredibly helpful for piecing together your delivery routes. You can go back through your timeline and see exactly where you drove on specific days. I also checked my Doordash earnings history and cross-referenced it with my Google timeline for the same dates. For your 15 shifts, you might be able to do something similar - look at your delivery history in the app it (shows dates and approximate locations and) use that with Google Maps to estimate your total miles. It s'not perfect, but it s'better than nothing and the IRS accepts reasonable estimates if you can show you made a good faith effort to reconstruct records. I actually ended up getting a small refund! Even though I owed about $180 in self-employment taxes on my $1,200 in earnings, the mileage deduction I (drove about 800 miles at 65.5 cents per mile plus) some other small business expenses like my insulated bag and phone mount brought my taxable income way down. The key is being thorough with tracking - every mile really does count. Going forward, I d'definitely recommend downloading Stride or another mileage app. I use it now and just hit start when I begin my delivery shift and stop when I m'done. Takes literally 2 seconds and saves so much hassle later!

@Aisha Khan I feel your pain on the mileage reconstruction! I actually did use Google Maps timeline history, which was a lifesaver. If you have location history turned on in your Google account, you can go to timeline.google.com and see everywhere you ve'driven with timestamps. I cross-referenced that with my Doordash earnings history in the app to figure out which trips were for deliveries. It was tedious but doable - I spent about 3 hours one weekend going through two months of timeline data. The key was looking for patterns like trips to restaurants followed by residential addresses during times I knew I was dashing. I also checked my bank account to see when I got paid by Doordash to narrow down the active delivery days. For your 15 shifts, you might be able to estimate mileage by looking at a typical shift and multiplying. Like if you usually do 6 deliveries per shift averaging 3 miles each restaurant (to customer ,)that s'about 18 miles per shift minimum, not counting driving to your starting area or between orders. As for taxes - the mileage deduction actually saved me! I drove about 850 miles total and earned around $580. At 65.5 cents per mile, that was a $557 deduction, which basically wiped out my taxable profit. I still had to pay the minimum self-employment tax, but it was way less than I feared. Definitely start tracking properly now though - apps like Stride make it so much easier than trying to reconstruct later!

@Aisha Khan I totally feel your pain on the record reconstruction! I ended up using a combination of methods to piece together my mileage. Google Maps Timeline was actually super helpful - if you have location history turned on, you can see everywhere you drove on specific dates. I cross-referenced that with my Doordash earnings history which (shows the dates/times of each delivery to) estimate my business miles. I also reached out to a few regular customers whose addresses I remembered and used Google Maps to calculate the approximate distances from the restaurants. It wasn t'perfect, but it gave me a reasonable estimate that I felt comfortable defending if questioned. The good news is that even with my imperfect reconstruction, the mileage deduction more than covered what I owed! I ended up with about $800 in total gig earnings but had roughly $520 in mileage deductions I (drove a lot of inefficient routes when I was learning .)So I only paid self-employment tax on the net $280, which came out to maybe $40 in taxes. Way less scary than I thought it would be. For your 15 shifts, try pulling up your Doordash earnings history and see if you can remember roughly which restaurants you delivered from and to what general areas. Even rough estimates are better than nothing. But definitely start using a mileage tracking app going forward - I learned my lesson and now use Stride religiously!

@Aisha Khan I feel your pain on the record reconstruction! I ended up using a combination of Google Maps timeline if (you have location history enabled ,)my bank statements to see when I bought gas, and the Doordash app s'earnings history to figure out which days I worked. It was tedious but doable. For your 15 shifts, you might be able to estimate mileage by looking at your Doordash earnings history and using the app to recreate some of your common delivery routes. Google Maps timeline was actually more helpful than I expected - it shows everywhere you drove on specific dates, so you can identify the delivery-related trips. The mileage deduction definitely helped! I drove about 900 miles total and with the 65.5 cents per mile deduction, that was nearly $590 in deductions against about $650 in earnings. Combined with some other small expenses insulated (bag, phone mount ,)my actual taxable income was minimal. My advice: start tracking TODAY with an app like Stride or even just a simple notebook in your car. For those 15 past shifts, do your best to estimate using the methods I mentioned, but don t'stress too much about being perfect - the IRS understands that records sometimes need to be reconstructed as long as you re'making a good faith effort to be accurate.

@Aisha Khan Yes, Google Maps timeline was a lifesaver for reconstructing my mileage! If you have location history turned on, you can go back and see all your trips. I also used my Doordash delivery history you (can download it from the app and) cross-referenced it with my Google timeline to estimate miles driven between deliveries and back home. For your 15 shifts, it s'not too late - download your delivery history ASAP and start tracking now. I use the Stride app which automatically tracks miles when you re'driving, but you can also just write down your odometer readings at the start and end of each shift. As for taxes - I actually got money back! I drove about 1,100 miles total and with the 65.5 cents per mile deduction, that was over $700 in deductions against about $550 in earnings. The mileage deduction completely wiped out my tax liability and then some. That s'pretty common for delivery drivers who track properly. Don t'stress too much about being behind - just start tracking everything religiously from now on. Even rough estimates for your past shifts are better than nothing, and the IRS generally accepts reasonable approximations if you can show you made a good faith effort to track your business expenses.