# Fun With Uber! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 17, 2016, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-uber/772285 "2016-11-17T21:05:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-uber/772285/41 "2016-12-03T02:21:52Z")
Hopefully he’ll post a link. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-uber/772285/42 "2016-12-03T02:26:28Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > I’ve been told that you can deduct your total insurance costs as well as maintenance on the car, and some amount per mile (I’d have to research how much). I have a hybrid so my fuel costs would be relatively low. Not the way it was when my wife and I ran our business (not Uber) for 11 years. You can choose the IRS 54 cents per mile (or whatever it is now) -or- you can itemize it. Obviously, you’ll need to do the math to figure out which works out better. One requires meticulous receipts to prove expenses, the other only requires a mileage log. I’d find a real CPA and see what, if anything, has changed with respect to that. If Boyo has really pocketed 20 grand in 8 months, then I strongly suspect he’s missed one, or more, estimated returns. Estimated returns require you “guessing” what you might make for the year and dividing it by 4. Then you pay 1/4 of the tax with the estimated return. If you guess a \*little \*low, you’re fine. If you guess a too high, it’s returned after your April filing. If you don’t pay it, or guess more than a little low, you’re likely to be surprised. I don’t really remember it all, but I think it was 4 grand in a quarter that triggered the Quarterly returns. Tank to a tax man before your get too far into this. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-uber/772285/43 "2016-12-03T07:05:59Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > It sounds great for someone who doesn’t do the math. > > The IRS says it costs 54 cents a mile to operate a car. > Taxes on the trip are the drivers responsibility. > Uber takes 25% > > [… > > Of course, you don’t put money aside for new tires, new brakes, auto repairs, cleaning, oil changes, etc. And 3 years from now, you need a new car because you wore this one out. The 54 cents a mile it costs to operate a car /is/ the amount you have to set aside for new tires, new brakes, auto reparis , cleaning , oil changes, fuel and capital costs. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-uber/772285/44 "2016-12-03T07:42:21Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > How the fuck did I do that? I haven’t even started drinking yet. > > Well, I meant to quote you - ha! 4:08 pm? Not drinking yet? Jesus, lady, what the _hell_ is your problem? 😕 You _really_ need to reevaluate your priorities. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-uber/772285/45 "2016-12-03T10:11:38Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > You know your expenses to the penny? How much are new brakes, and how often will you need them? Tires, did you figure those in? How much is a 30,000 mile service? I don’t drive commercially, heck I’m not even a car enthusiast even though I’ve put in almost a half million miles on the road, but I know these. You should not even have to ask if someone knows these, as long as you’re presuming they’re reasonably intelligent and they say they know all their expenses to the penny. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-uber/772285/46 "2016-12-03T14:07:39Z")
With the regenerative braking on my car, I can go a lot of miles before I’ll need to replace the brakes if I drive properly. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-uber/772285/47 "2016-12-03T15:55:50Z")
I checked on the Self-employment tax. It’s an additional 15.3%. 12.4% for social security (old-age, survivors, disability) and 2.9% for Medicare (hospital insurance) as of 2016. That’s in addition to what you’ll pay for fed taxes. If there’s a way to _legally_ avoid that, I’d love to know it. Let’s add them up SET = 15.3% (expect it to go up) FIT = 12.0% (low guess) State Income Tax = 3% (guess, don’t know your state) State Sales/Use tax up to 10% in some parts of my state, if applicable. City, County taxes if applicable…(unknown) Maintenance, fuel = 12% Uber= 25% (off the top) That’s already over 2/3 of your profit. Add long term costs Depreciation Extra liability insurance for the venture. Business license Increased car cleaning Just run this by an accounting professional. The math just doesn’t seem to be there for the long term. ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-uber/772285/48 "2016-12-03T16:09:11Z")
I’m so sick of Uber. Apparently you can ONLY drive it in the Portland metro area around here. Which is like a ninety minute drive for me. And they require a business license for the city of Portland. I didn’t know either of these things when I started the sign up process. Plus the nearest place to get my car inspected was an hour away. So I just decided against it. Over a month later I am STILL getting text messages, at least two or three a week, saying that I need to continue the process. Fucking Uber. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-uber/772285/49 "2016-12-03T16:26:51Z")
Do those messages have any instructions at the bottom about how to stop them? I think if you reply STOP they will stop. ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-uber/772285/50 "2016-12-03T16:46:43Z")
No there’s nothing, which is even more annoying. At this point I just don’t even open them and I hope they’ll stop eventually. Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-uber/772285/51 "2016-12-03T17:17:10Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > With the regenerative braking on my car, I can go a lot of miles before I’ll need to replace the brakes if I drive properly. Yeah, I can’t wait until they figure out a way to make my tires regenerate! (Yes, I’m kidding) ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-uber/772285/52 "2016-12-03T17:48:38Z")
Can’t say I’m surprised. Uber’s app is surprisingly terrible in terms of simplicity and usability. I just went ten rounds with them trying to change a basic aspect of my settings, and it was worse than dealing with a bank’s automated phone tree. But let’s not forget, this is the company that takes something simple and makes it complicated. Example - I’m in the aviation field and frequently need to be picked up at airports, but not at the passenger terminals. So I put in the street address… and Uber promptly overrides it with the passenger terminal. This happens all the #%!?ing time. There are businesses at airports other than terminals, you know! What genius decided it’s a good idea to automate things in such a way that it defeats the whole purpose of the endeavor? Shitty company in how it works, and how it treats drivers. I hope that changes. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-uber/772285/53 "2016-12-03T18:02:12Z")
> [@AngelSoft](#): > > No there’s nothing, which is even more annoying. At this point I just don’t even open them and I hope they’ll stop eventually. > > Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk Reply STOP anyway. Only the first message I got from them had the message. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-uber/772285/54 "2016-12-07T19:28:53Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > … > The IRS says it costs 54 cents a mile to operate a car. … > Say you get a dollar per mile. > Uber takes 25 cents. > Depreciation, etc. = 54 cents per mile… > Of course, you don’t put money aside for new tires, new brakes, auto repairs, cleaning, oil changes, etc. And 3 years from now, you need a new car because you wore this one out. … Well, for what it’s worth, that 54 cents a mile is supposed to account for depreciation, wear and tear, insurance, repairs etc so it’s not QUITE that dire. No clue on anything else about it, I just wanted to point out that the insurance and tires and whatnot shouldn’t have to come out of the 11 cents, but rather the 54 cents. The bookkeeping has got to be a pain though. I’ve never had to track auto expenses like that for tax reasons. Do you just say “I earned 100 dollars, I drove 100 miles, so my expenses are 54 dollars” giving you a net income of 46 dollars (ignoring the Uber fees here for the moment), Or do you say “I earned 100 dollars. I drove 100 personal miles and 100 Uber miles. I bought 50 dollars in gas so 25.00 is Uber gas. I had an oil change for 30 dollars, so 15 dollars for Uber oil. And the tires depreciated 10 dollars.” giving net income of 50 dollars (100 - 25 - 15 - 10)? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-uber/772285/55 "2016-12-07T21:04:52Z")
I have more than 20 grand in the bank. I have 3 grand in expenses. I have yet pay some income taxes on the banked money, but there’s nothing else beyond routine operating expenses. I can deduct more than 10 grand off this income just using the IRS deductible number. Morgenstern is talking out his ass. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-uber/772285/56 "2016-12-08T05:32:59Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I have more than 20 grand in the bank. I have 3 grand in expenses. I have yet pay some income taxes on the banked money, but there’s nothing else beyond routine operating expenses. I can deduct more than 10 grand off this income just using the IRS deductible number. > > Morgenstern is talking out his ass. Your accountant is about as useless as the Pope’s balls, and honestly, you’re in denial. If you haven’t paid taxes yet, as you say you haven’t, you’re going to get screwed when you find out about Quarterly returns. Expect penalties and interest for that screw up. Honestly, I seriously doubt you have an accountant, I think you lied about that. No accountant would be so negligent as to not inform you of about your tax obligations. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-uber/772285/57 "2016-12-08T05:48:22Z")
Here, for your benefit… From the IRS… \*As a self-employed individual, generally you are required to file an annual return and pay estimated tax quarterly. \* It’s even more fun…Form 1040-ES, the form you should be filing, contains a worksheet that is similar to Form 1040. You will need your prior year’s annual tax return in order to fill out Form 1040-ES. From the 1040 ES _In some cases, you may owe a penalty when you file your return. The penalty is imposed on each underpayment for the number of days it remains unpaid. A penalty may be applied if you did not pay enough estimated tax for the year or you did not make the payments on time or in the required amount. A penalty may apply even if you have an over payment on your tax return._ underlining mine. You really need to educate yourself on all this. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-uber/772285/58 "2016-12-11T04:55:00Z")
Yeah, I’ve done contract work in the past and you definitely have to file quarterly returns. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-uber/772285/59 "2016-12-11T07:02:21Z")
[Meet an Uber Driver Who Lives in Her Car for Days at a Time](https://news.vice.com/story/uber-driver-live-in-car). The piece goes to some pains to stress that this is Mrs. White’s choice and that she is comfortable with the choice, but I have to wonder how few choices she felt she had (and why) that this is acceptable to her. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-uber/772285/60 "2016-12-11T07:54:00Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Their app is sexy and easy to use and everything, and the Uber pool rides can get outrageously cheap, but Dog help you if you ever need to speak with a person. This is the whole new paradigm (well, not so new any more) of ultra-high-volume low-margin mega-business that’s been spawned by the Internet. Prime examples are eBay, PayPal, and the king of them all, Microsoft. It’s like no human actually exists at any of these places. In my limited experience, Amazon has somehow managed to transcend this bullshit and actually pay attention to customer service, and that’s enormously to their credit. A bit of a digression, but perhaps worth noting. I’ve only had two non-standard interactions with them, but both involved what seemed to me to be superb attention to customer satisfaction. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-uber/772285.md?page=2)