I Paid $250 to Drive for Lyft Last Year (opens in new tab)

The author got paid almost 30k, doesn't 6k... Yet paid 250? That isn't how the IRS reimbursement works.

The author is right, if he didn't do the work himself, he probably would have paid 250, as the labor costs on the vehicle works probably come close to 25k. And there is one of the problems with Uber, and one reason why conventional taxis are not expensive.

Uh, author is committing tax fraud. The standardized tax deduction for mileage includes maintance and fuel etc. So to both itemize your costs plus taking the standard deduction is to double count the same costs.

Author is also benefiting from negative deduction on the value of his car. His car was long ago worthless, yet thanks to the standard deduction he is discounting it for tax purposes below zero. This is not normal accounting and not what the irs intended by offering the standard deduction.

If anything this means author is able to earn cash tax free. Except for the whole fraud aspect. If you are willing to commit fraud any business can run in the red for tax purposes.

> For 2019, my gross income, pre-expense income for both apps was around $29,272. Using the IRS’s $0.58 per mile reimbursement fee, and writing off a portion of my cell phone bill, totals out to about $29,500. So, last year I technically paid about $250 to work.

That's not how that works. So much misunderstanding in that statement.

I am not 100% clear on the math here, but it does seem like the Uber and Lyft innovate more in accounting, tax-dodging and sidestepping regulation than they do in any real technology. Their value to society is seems marginal to possibly negative.