Summary: Depending on which platforms you use, we can provide an IRS compliant mileage log even if you've forgotten to track some or all of your miles.
If you do Driveshare or Delivery you need to track your miles. If you decide to take the standard mileage deduction, for every mile you track in 2020 you can deduct $.575 from your income in business expenses, potentially saving you big money come tax season. For many drivers this adds up to thousands of dollars in your pocket.
Not tracking your miles is a mistake new drivers make all too often. Having a "Oh ****, I forgot to track my miles" moment is common for regular drivers. Even seasoned pros can run into complications, occasionally forgetting to log their miles or running into technical trouble using their mile recording app.
If you forgot to track all or part of your miles this year, take a deep breath. We've got you covered.
First, the good news. Fortunately, platforms such as Uber, Instacart, DoorDash, Lyft, etc. provide mileage records that partially reflect the total miles you drove for your work. They cover the distance you travelled in between pickup and delivery, whether that be for groceries, people, etc.
The bad news, however, is that these records don't catch everything. For example, they don't record the distance you travelled in between your trip acceptances or the business miles you logged waiting for your first ping of the day.
And sometimes, they just straight up suck. For example, Ron over at EntreCourier, whose been doing delivery part time for several years now, got an estimate from Grubhub for 3 miles (Spoiler: he's driven way more than 3 miles)
With that being said, you can try to partially fill in the gaps. And deducting something is always better than deducting nothing.
Para works with Uber, Lyft, UberEats, Grubhub, Postmates, and DoorDash to collect and aggregate your mileage records. This means that if you forgot to track some or all of your miles on any of the platforms above, we've got you covered. We'll share with you your mileage info and package it up into an IRS-compliant report that you can use to file your taxes with and claim the miles that are yours.
Better hurry, taxes are due soon!
(UPDATE: the IRS recently pushed the due date back to May 17th)
