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Uber Eats taxes for couriers: forms, tips, and what you owe in 2026

By Jin JeongUpdated Checked against IRS 2026 figures

Uber Eats couriers use the same Uber tax pages as rideshare drivers: a 1099-K for what customers paid for deliveries (at Uber's $20,000 line), a 1099-NEC for promotions and referrals, and a Tax Summary with fees, online miles, and tips. What differs is the IRS occupation for your tips (goods delivery, TTOC 804) and the way two Uber accounts can merge. A part-time courier can also owe self-employment tax and no income tax at all, as the example below shows.

GigTaxHQ is not affiliated with Uber or Uber Eats. This guide builds on our Uber rideshare guide, which explains the three Uber documents in detail, and focuses on what is specific to delivery.

Find your situation

If you...ExpectWatch for
Deliver for Uber Eats onlyA Tax Summary for sure; a 1099-K only if you reach Uber's $20,000 gross line or a lower state thresholdBelow the line, nothing arrives automatically. Opt in by updating your W-9 if you want forms.
Drive riders and deliver, one emailOne combined Tax Summary; earnings combined for thresholdsRider tips and delivery tips sit in one total. Check which TTOC code is on the form.
Use two emails (one per account)Separate summaries, possibly separate formsAdd the documents together. Each can be under a threshold while the total is not.
Deliver by bike or scooterThe same Uber documentsNo standard mileage rate for a bike. Track actual business costs.
Also work for DoorDash or GrubhubSeparate documents from each companyReport all of them on one Schedule C, with one set of expenses.

Uber's pages say documents appear on the web at drivers.uber.com under Tax Information or in the Driver app under Account, then Tax Info, usually by January 31. A mailed copy requires opting in by December 31 in Tax Settings. These pages describe 2025 documents; confirm for 2026 when they update.

Delivery tips: TTOC 804 and the reporting condition

The IRS list of tipped occupations puts goods delivery people under TTOC 804, with examples that include food and grocery delivery, package delivery, bicycle couriers, and "app/platform-based delivery person". The final regulations require that, starting in 2026, a qualified tip be reported to you on an information return. Uber's Tax Summary shows total tips earned and its FAQ says tips are included in gross earnings on the tax documents. If your gross is below the 1099-K line you may have no form that carries the tips, which is why the opt-in matters. For limits and the claim, see the tips deduction guide.

Example: a head-of-household courier with a lot of tips

Run through the engine: a courier filing as head of household with no other job has $31,500 of Uber Eats gross, $6,900 of it tips (about 21.9%), drives 6,200 miles January to June and 6,600 July to December, and has $700 of other expenses.

The lesson is that a tips deduction can be worth nothing, because the standard deduction had already taken income tax to zero. The whole bill is self-employment tax, which the deduction never touches. The engine suggests setting aside 9.5% of each payout, about $752.01 a quarter; compare with the self-employment tax calculator. The engine does not model credits such as the earned income credit or child tax credit, which can change a low-income filer's result. Ask a preparer or the IRS before assuming you owe the full amount.

Is the delivery worth the tax?

Taxes are one part of the math on every order. The delivery offer profit calculator turns an offer into dollars per mile and net dollars per hour after car cost and tax, which tells you more about which Uber Eats offers to accept than any year-end form.

A pre-filing checklist for couriers

  1. List every Uber account and the email on each. Download all Tax Summaries and any 1099-K or 1099-NEC.
  2. Add gross income from every form, then check it against your own weekly totals.
  3. Move the fees and expense items from the Tax Summary onto Schedule C only if the form reports gross.
  4. Compare Uber's online miles with your own log, and use the log.
  5. Check tip and TTOC boxes against the summary. Ask Uber in writing about any tip total missing from a form.
  6. Send estimated payments for the next quarter. Our underpayment guide shows the safe harbors.

The author of this site drove for DoorDash in Canada, not for Uber Eats in the US, so the Canadian side is covered in our Canada guide rather than here. General information for tax year 2026, not tax advice.

Couriers often split time across apps: the DoorDash tax guide and Grubhub driver tax guide show how those platforms report pay, and the Uber driver tax guide covers the rideshare side of Uber's tax documents. State tax can change the total, as the Pennsylvania guide (local earned income tax) and the Ohio guide (city and school district taxes) show.

Frequently asked questions

Is Uber Eats treated differently from Uber rides for taxes?

Uber says the process is the same: the same Tax Summary, a 1099-K for payments from Uber Eats customers at the $20,000 line, and a 1099-NEC for promotions and referrals. The difference for the tips deduction is the IRS occupation: delivery is TTOC 804, rideshare is TTOC 802.

I use the same email for Uber and Uber Eats. What happens?

Uber says earnings are combined into one Tax Summary and counted together toward the thresholds. With different emails, they are assessed separately, so you may receive separate documents and need to add them yourself.

Do I need a 1099 to deduct my mileage?

No. Mileage is deducted on Schedule C from your own log. The 1099 only reports income. You need the log either way; see the mileage log guide.

Can I use the standard mileage rate if I deliver by bike?

No. The IRS standard mileage rate in Publication 463 is for cars, vans, pickups, and panel trucks. Bicycle couriers appear on the IRS tipped-occupations list, so their tips can still qualify, but costs such as a repair or a helmet are claimed as actual expenses if they are business use.

My income tax came out at zero in a calculator. Is that right?

It can be. After the standard deduction and the 20 percent pass-through deduction, a part-time courier may have no federal income tax, but self-employment tax of 15.3 percent on 92.35 percent of net profit still applies from $400 of net earnings. Credits are separate and are not modelled in our calculator.

What if I earned less than $20,000 and got no form?

You still report everything on Schedule C. Uber says drivers and couriers below the thresholds can opt in to receive 1099s by updating the W-9 in the app or web portal, which is worth doing if you have tips to deduct.

Does GigTaxHQ cover Uber Eats in Canada?

There is a separate Canada section for DoorDash and Uber Eats couriers covering T4A slips, CPP, and GST/HST.

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