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The Ultimate Tax Guide

An Information and Tax Guide for Postmates drivers

1099 delivery drivers save thousands with this tax guide

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Learn all about delivery driver taxes

List of all possible deductions

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A Complete Guide to Your Postmates Taxes

Postmates is a popular source of delivery gigs for many freelance delivery drivers. But like other delivery services such as Instacart, Amazon Flex and Uber or Lyft, the company does not offer drivers any help with their taxes. Postmates delivery drivers are considered independent contractors by the IRS and are expected to handle their own taxes. We’ll take you through everything you need to know about filing Postmates taxes and how to make the process as easy as possible.

Table of contents

How do taxes work for Postmates?...Read more

Do drivers get a Postmates 1099 tax form?...Read more

What can I deduct from my taxes as a Postmates 1099 driver?...Read more

When do I file my Postmates taxes?...Read more

What’s the easiest way to file my Postmates taxes?...Read more

How do taxes work for Postmates?

If you’re a Postmates driver, you've got to deal with two types of taxes– income taxes and self-employed taxes. Self-employed drivers need to pay Postmates 1099 taxes if they earned over $400 in a calendar year. With income taxes, you pay a portion of what you earn to the government, just like when you work for a company. Your federal tax bracket can range from 10-37% and you can use a tax bracket calculator to figure out where you fall. Plus, you'll owe extra for Social Security and Medicare. Unlike a regular job where your employer helps with these taxes, you're on the hook for the whole amount when you're your own boss. This can mean a bigger tax bill, but there are ways to lower it, like finding deductions for delivery drivers.
Infographic entitled Self-Employed Taxes showing the tax breakdown for drivers paying Postmates taxes.

Do drivers get a Postmates 1099 tax form?

As a Postmates delivery driver, you will need the 1099-NEC form to help you calculate and report your earned income. Postmates will send you this form by the end of January. You will receive the 1099-NEC form if you make at least $600 yearly. Postmates issues 1099 forms solely to drivers who earned $600 or more in the previous year. If you didn't receive one, you can report your Postmates income by referring to your deposit records within the Postmates app. You'll also receive a lot of your payments via third-party apps. The 1099-K form is sent out to anyone who is making an income from third-party online payment sources like credit card companies or PayPal and Venmo. A notable change was expected in Postmates taxes, primarily revolving around the updated IRS guidelines for 1099 reporting. There was talk about the possibility of altering the 1099-K reporting thresholds, with speculation that these changes would come into effect in 2023. However, the IRS has once again postponed these adjustments, maintaining the current threshold at $20,000. The proposed reduction to $5,000 has been pushed back to the 2024 tax year. You can view and download your Postmates 1099 tax forms in the app. As Postmates was acquired by Uber in 2020, you should contact their support team if you have any issues with your 1099 forms.
Do drivers get a <span style="background: linear-gradient(101.76deg, #19ACA4 1.98%, #3563CD 100.59%);
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What can I deduct from my taxes as a Postmates 1099 driver?

With the boring stuff behind us, let's talk about the part where you save big money on your taxes. As a self-employed individual, you can take advantage of tax write-offs to help you minimize your taxable income. These deductions must be valid business expenses, which you will need to be able to prove to the IRS.
What can I deduct from my <span style="background: linear-gradient(101.76deg, #19ACA4 1.98%, #3563CD 100.59%);
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If you’re deducting vehicle mileage, you can use the standard mileage method which is the simpler option, or the actual expenses method which takes a bit more math and record-keeping. A tax pro can help you assess your situation and pick the method that gives you the biggest deduction. Let's say you're a Postmates driver who uses your vehicle for deliveries. Throughout the year, you keep meticulous records of your mileage, noting every trip you make while delivering orders. At tax time, you realize you can claim a deduction for these mileage expenses. Say you drove a total of 10,000 miles for deliveries over the year. Using the standard mileage rate set by the IRS, which is 65.5 cents per mile in 2023, you calculate your deduction. Multiplying the total miles driven by the standard rate, you find that you can deduct $6,550 from your taxable income. But what if you want to make sure you're getting the biggest deduction possible for your efforts? You might decide to try out the actual expense method to compare deduction amounts. Throughout the year, you keep detailed records of all vehicle-related expenses. At tax time, you gather your receipts and calculate the total amount spent on these deductible expenses. Say you spent $3,000 on gas, $1,500 on maintenance, $1,200 on insurance premiums, $300 on registration fees and $2,000 on depreciation for your vehicle used for deliveries. Adding these expenses together, you find that you can deduct a total of $8,000. The actual expenses method does require more calculation but it can be a worthwhile effort for Postmates drivers who use their car a lot for work. It's pretty clear if you're using the standard mileage method, but it's worth noting that if you're deducting mileage, you need to keep a record of the miles you drive. While you might feel tempted to estimate the miles when you file, it can be risky if the IRS ever asks you to show them proof. To deduct your cell phone bill costs for business, you'll need to determine the portion used for work. For example, if you use your phone for work 46% of the time in a month, you'd deduct 46% of your monthly bill. Figuring out this business percentage might seem tricky, but it's doable. Start by examining an average week or month. Review your calls, texts, and data usage during that period to gauge the percentage of calls and texts related to work, the portion of data used for work, and when and how frequently the phone is used for work. Once you've established the business percentage for that period, you can apply it to your phone bill costs for the entire year. This method helps streamline the process of determining your deductible bill percentage, saving you valuable time.

When do I file my Postmates taxes?

To file your Postmates taxes, you'll need Schedule C. It helps you calculate all your earnings by reporting your self-employed profits and losses. You should also claim delivery driver tax deductions on this form. If your 1099 income exceeds $400, you have to pay self-employment taxes. The SE tax rate is 15.3%, and you’ll calculate your tax liability on Schedule SE. The filing deadline for Postmates taxes is around April 15 every year. A unique aspect of being a Postmates driver is calculating and paying estimated taxes. According to the IRS, if you owe $1,000 or more in taxes for a year and they're not already deducted from your paycheck, they want you to pay taxes quarterly. Since taxes aren't withheld from your Postmates earnings, it's possible you'll need to pay taxes on a quarterly basis. As the IRS collects taxes as income is earned, your estimated quarterly payments will be due on:
  • April 15
  • June 15
  • September 15
  • January 15 of the next year
Missing estimated tax payments can lead to fines from the IRS. In some cases, it could also trigger an audit. You should attach Form 1040-ES when you file.

What’s the easiest way to file my Postmates taxes?

In addition to the Postmates tax forms you'll need to watch for, the important dates for filing taxes and the deductibles you will claim, you'll need to get all your information in order to have successful Postmates tax filings, so you can be sure to pay your estimated taxes by the deadlines. If you’re a Postmates delivery driver, FlyFin has got your tax filing covered. A.I. scans your expenses to identify every business deduction you can use to save on taxes. Expert CPAs will review that information to make sure it's accurate and prepare and file your returns for you. FlyFin even offers free audit insurance for self-employed individuals, making tax season a walk in the park.

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What’s FlyFin?

FlyFin is the most powerful A.I.-powered tax service for freelancers, gig workers, independent contractors and sole proprietors. FlyFin tracks all your business expenses automatically to find every possible tax deduction. And anyone can file taxes through FlyFin. Our CPA team files a guaranteed 100% accurate tax return for you – to save you a couple thousand dollars and a ton of time on your taxes. Download the FlyFin app for the CPA team to file your taxes for you and get more tax savings than you had last year, guaranteed.
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