How Lyft drivers are taxed
Lyft drivers are independent contractors. Lyft does not withhold taxes from your earnings, so at tax time you report your driving as a small business on Schedule C and owe self-employment tax (15.3% of 92.35% of profit) plus federal income tax on your profit, and state income tax in most states.
The three documents Lyft gives you
You find them in the Tax Center tab of your Driver Dashboard, available by January 31:
- Annual Summary, for every driver who earned money: total earnings, fees, mileage and more. Even if you do not get a 1099, you can file with it.
- Form 1099-K, for ride earnings, when riders paid you more than $20,000 and you gave more than 200 rides in 2026 (the federal threshold). Lyft notes that some states have lower thresholds, so you may get one below the federal amount.
- Form 1099-NEC, for non-ride earnings such as referral bonuses, when they reach $2,000 in 2026.
Lyft’s help pages may still show older thresholds; the federal figures above are the ones for 2026. More in our guides to the 1099-K and the 1099-NEC.
Why your 1099-K is higher than your payouts
According to Lyft, box 1a of the 1099-K shows the total riders paid for your rides, including fees and taxes they paid. It does not list Lyft’s fees, Express Pay fees or third-party fees; those are in your Annual Summary.
The rule: report the gross 1099-K amount as income and deduct the fees as business expenses, so your Schedule C profit matches what you actually earned. Reporting only your deposits and also deducting the fees would count the same money twice.
How much to set aside
Here is a typical year for a single Lyft driver with no other income:
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Lyft earnings (gross 1099-K minus Lyft’s fees) | $42,000 |
| Mileage deduction (15,000 miles) | −$11,140 |
| Phone, car wash, water, parking and tolls | −$1,100 |
| Net profit | $29,760 |
| Self-employment tax | $4,205 |
| Federal income tax | $925 |
| Total to set aside | $5,130 |
That is about 12% of your earnings, or $99 a week. The mileage deduction alone saves this driver about $2,505 in federal taxes. Run your own numbers in our gig driver tax calculator.
Deductions for Lyft drivers
- Mileage: 72.5¢ per mile January–June and 76¢ July–December 2026. Count miles driving to pickups and between rides, not only miles with a passenger. Compare the online mileage in your Annual Summary with your own log.
- Lyft’s fees, from your Annual Summary, if your income figure is the gross 1099-K amount.
- Phone and data, business share, plus chargers and mounts.
- Parking and tolls while driving.
- Car washes, water, mints and other amenities for riders.
- Actual car costs, only if you choose the actual expense method instead of the mileage rate.
Pay during the year
With no withholding, make quarterly estimated payments if you will owe $1,000 or more: April 15, 2026, June 15, 2026, September 15, 2026 and January 15, 2027 for the 2026 tax year. Our quarterly estimated tax calculator turns your estimate into a payment plan.
Filing checklist for Lyft drivers
- Download your Annual Summary and any 1099-K or 1099-NEC from the Tax Center in your Driver Dashboard.
- Report the gross amounts as income on Schedule C and deduct Lyft’s fees and your other expenses.
- Add your mileage deduction from your own log, split into January–June and July–December.
- Figure self-employment tax on Schedule SE and file Form 1040 by April 15, 2027.
- Subtract your estimated payments.
Also drive for Uber? Add both to the same Schedule C; our Uber taxes guide explains Uber’s documents.