Ride-share drivers: Tax Information Centre

by TurboTax• Updated 10 months ago

If you're a ride-share driver—whether transporting people or food and drink—completing your tax return can be both confusing and frustrating. How much of your income do you have to claim? What type of filer are you in the eyes of the government? Are you able to claim or write-off any of your expenses?

To help make this process easier, we've developed this handy, quick-reference guide, providing you with all the information you'll need to start (and complete) everything related to your ride-share income on your tax return.

The Basics

What is my status for tax purposes?

As a ride-share driver, any income that you receive while performing ride-share duties is considered self-employed income. This means that in addition to filing your usual T-slips (if you receive any income elsewhere as an employee), you must also complete a T2125 form, and include this information within your tax return.

TurboTax software will guide you through inputting these amounts when filing your return, once you have completed the profile section and identified yourself as self-employed.

How much of my rideshare income do I need to claim?

As a self-employed individual, you're required to claim all of your ride-share-related income on your tax return. This information will be contained on your Annual Tax Summary, as well as your T2125 form.

You'll also need to claim any additional income you received—whether self-employed or otherwise—on your return as well.

Can I claim any expenses?

As a ride-share operator, there are a lot of expenses you can claim as per Ride-Sharing Income Taxes that may be related to the operation of your business. These expenses can include (but aren't limited to):

Vehicle insurance
Gas/mileage
Vehicle fluids (such as antifreeze, oil, etc)
Parking fees
Maintenance and repairs

These expenses can be claimed. For more guidance, these instructions can help show you how to enter these expenses directly into TurboTax.

Do I need to register for a GST/HST account?

As a ride-share operator, you are required to register for a GST/HST account.

For additional information, refer to the TurboTax tips page.

Which version of TurboTax should I use?

Though there are a number of different TurboTax products available for you to use as a ride-share operator, we recommend going with TurboTax: Self-employed.

TurboTax: Self-employed helps you file your business taxes, while also providing extra guidance through self-employment income and deductions.

To learn more about what features and benefits this software has to offer, visit TurboTax Self-Employed. And if you require any additional help, visit one of our TurboTax Live services TurboTax Live Assist Review Self-Employed.

Uber resources

Tax filing handbook

Download the official Uber Tax-filing Handbook here, brought to you by Intuit TurboTax and Quickbooks.

Tax Tips

TurboTax has worked jointly with Uber to bring you a variety of tax tips and preparation advice, which is available here for quick reference.