To file your taxes as a DoorDash driver, report your delivery income on Schedule C, subtract your business expenses (mileage is usually the biggest), and carry the net profit to your Form 1040 and to Schedule SE for self-employment tax. Nobody withholds anything from your dasher pay, so you also need to send the IRS quarterly estimated payments during the year. That’s the whole shape of it. The rest is filling in the pieces correctly.
Report Every Dollar, With or Without a 1099-NEC
DoorDash reports what it paid you on Form 1099-NEC (Nonemployee Compensation). The company is required to send you one if your gross earnings hit $600 or more for the year.1Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC It usually shows up in the DoorDash app or Stripe Express dashboard by late January.
Earned less than $600 and got nothing in the mail? You still have to report the income. The $600 threshold only decides whether DoorDash has to file the form; your obligation to report is separate and covers every dollar.2Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Schedule C (Form 1040)
One thing worth checking before you file: the gross income you put on Schedule C should match the number on the 1099-NEC DoorDash sent. The IRS matches those two figures automatically, and a mismatch generates a notice.
Schedule C: Turning Pay Into Profit
Schedule C is the form where independent contractors calculate business profit. You enter your gross DoorDash pay at the top, list your business expenses below it, and the difference is your net profit or net loss.
That net profit number does three jobs on your return. It flows to Form 1040 as income, to Schedule SE for self-employment tax, and to Form 8995 for the qualified business income deduction. If your expenses come in higher than your income, Schedule C shows a loss, and that loss can offset other income on your return, like a spouse’s W-2 wages or interest income.
The Vehicle Deduction
Your car is almost always the largest expense on a dasher’s Schedule C. You get two ways to deduct it, and you pick one.
Standard Mileage Rate
Multiply your business miles by the IRS rate. For 2026 that rate is 72.5 cents per mile.3Internal Revenue Service. IRS Sets 2026 Business Standard Mileage Rate at 72.5 Cents Per Mile It’s 67 cents for 2025. That single rate is meant to cover gas, depreciation, insurance, maintenance, and repairs, so you don’t deduct those separately. Drive 15,000 business miles in 2026 and your deduction is $10,875.
There’s a lock-in rule: to use the standard rate on a given vehicle, you have to pick it in the first year you use that vehicle for business. Start with actual expenses and you can’t switch to standard mileage later on that car. Start with standard mileage and you can switch to actual expenses in a future year.4Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 510, Business Use of Car
Actual Expenses
Add up what you actually spent operating the car (gas, oil, tires, repairs, insurance, registration, depreciation), then multiply by your business-use percentage. If 60% of your total miles for the year were for DoorDash, you deduct 60% of each qualifying cost. More paperwork, but potentially a bigger deduction on an older car with high maintenance bills or when your business-use share is high.
Which Miles Actually Count
Business mileage runs from accepting an order through completing the delivery. Miles between deliveries with the app on and available also count. Driving from home to the zone where you start dashing is generally treated like commuting and is not deductible, unless your home qualifies as your principal place of business.
Whichever method you pick, keep a mileage log with the date, destination, business purpose, and miles for each trip.4Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 510, Business Use of Car Apps like Everlance, Stride, or MileIQ handle this automatically. Without a log, the IRS can throw out the entire vehicle deduction in an audit, and that’s the deduction they look at hardest.
Parking fees and tolls you pay during deliveries are deductible on top of the standard mileage rate, not folded into it.4Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 510, Business Use of Car
Other Expenses You Can Write Off
An expense qualifies if it’s ordinary (normal for gig delivery) and necessary (helpful for the work). The common ones for dashers:
- The business-use portion of your cell phone plan. If you use the phone about half the time for deliveries, deduct half the bill. Claiming 100% only makes sense if the phone is dedicated to DoorDash.
- Delivery equipment: insulated food bags, phone mounts, car chargers, and similar gear are fully deductible.
- Home office, if you have a space used exclusively to manage the business (tracking expenses, admin). The simplified method is $5 per square foot up to 300 square feet, capping at $1,500.5Internal Revenue Service. Simplified Option for Home Office Deduction
- Mileage-tracking apps, accounting software, and other subscriptions used for the business.
- Fees on a business checking account. Keeping business money separate also makes bookkeeping cleaner.
Keep receipts. A credit card statement alone is thin documentation; the IRS prefers itemized receipts showing what you bought and when.
Self-Employment Tax on Schedule SE
Self-employment tax is how independent contractors pay into Social Security and Medicare. W-2 employees split this with their employer; you pay both halves. The rate is 15.3% total (12.4% Social Security, 2.9% Medicare).6Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 554, Self-Employment Tax
It’s not applied to your gross pay. Schedule SE applies the 15.3% to 92.35% of your Schedule C net profit. So a net profit of $30,000 produces SE tax on $27,705.6Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 554, Self-Employment Tax
Two ceilings and one add-on to know. The 12.4% Social Security portion only applies to net earnings up to $184,500 in 2026.7Social Security Administration. Contribution and Benefit Base Above that, only the 2.9% Medicare portion continues. And if your self-employment income exceeds $200,000 ($250,000 married filing jointly), an extra 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax applies to the amount above the threshold.8Internal Revenue Service. Questions and Answers for the Additional Medicare Tax
The final SE tax goes on Schedule 2 of Form 1040. Half of that tax becomes a deduction on Schedule 1.9Internal Revenue Service. Schedule SE (Form 1040) – Self-Employment Tax
Adjustments That Lower Your AGI
Several self-employed deductions come off before you even reach the standard deduction, reducing your adjusted gross income.10Internal Revenue Service. Adjusted Gross Income
Half of your SE tax. You deduct 50% of the self-employment tax you calculated on Schedule SE. It shows up on Schedule 1 and partially offsets the fact that you paid both employee and employer FICA.6Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 554, Self-Employment Tax
Self-employed health insurance. If you pay your own premiums and aren’t eligible for coverage through a spouse’s employer, deduct 100% of medical, dental, and vision premiums for yourself, your spouse, and dependents on Schedule 1, line 17. The deduction can’t exceed your net self-employment income.11Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 7206
Retirement contributions. A SEP IRA lets you contribute up to 25% of your net self-employment earnings, capped at $72,000 in 2026.12Internal Revenue Service. SEP Contribution Limits (Including Grandfathered SARSEPs) A solo 401(k) allows both an employee deferral (up to $24,500 in 2026, plus a $7,500 catch-up if you’re 50 or older) and an employer profit-sharing piece of up to 25% of net earnings, sharing the same overall cap.13Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026 Most dashers won’t get close to the ceiling, but a few thousand dollars in reduces taxable income dollar for dollar.
The Qualified Business Income Deduction
Section 199A lets sole proprietors deduct up to 20% of qualified business income, which for a dasher is the net profit from Schedule C.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 199A – Qualified Business Income Show $25,000 in Schedule C profit and this can be a $5,000 deduction, available whether you itemize or take the standard deduction.
If your total taxable income before the QBI deduction is below roughly $201,750 (about $403,500 married filing jointly), you use the shorter Form 8995 and get the full 20% with no additional limits. Above those thresholds the deduction phases out for service businesses, which includes delivery work. QBI goes on your 1040, not Schedule C, so it only cuts income tax, not self-employment tax.
Pay As You Go: Quarterly Estimated Taxes
DoorDash doesn’t withhold anything, so the IRS wants payments during the year. If you’ll owe $1,000 or more in federal tax, you’re required to make quarterly estimated payments, and skipping them adds an underpayment penalty on top of whatever you owe.15Internal Revenue Service. Form 1040-ES – Estimated Tax for Individuals
The 2026 due dates:16Internal Revenue Service. Publication 509 (2026), Tax Calendars
- April 15, 2026 (January–March income)
- June 15, 2026 (April–May income)
- September 15, 2026 (June–August income)
- January 15, 2027 (September–December income)
If a due date lands on a weekend or holiday, it moves to the next business day. Pay through IRS Direct Pay (free bank transfer), EFTPS, or by debit or credit card (with a processing fee).17Internal Revenue Service. Payments
You avoid the underpayment penalty entirely by paying at least 90% of your current-year tax or 100% of last year’s total tax, whichever is smaller. If your AGI last year was above $150,000 ($75,000 married filing separately), that prior-year figure jumps to 110%.18Internal Revenue Service. Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Individuals Penalty
First year dashing and no prior return to look back at? A workable rule of thumb is to set aside 25–30% of your net earnings (after deductions) each quarter. That’s enough to cover federal income tax at most brackets plus SE tax. After year one you can lean on the 100% prior-year safe harbor and take the guessing out.
Keep Records, Watch a Few Red Flags
Dashers don’t get audited more often than other self-employed filers, but a handful of patterns pull attention. Claiming 100% business use of a car you also drive personally is the fastest way to invite questions; be honest about your business-use percentage. Expenses that dwarf income, precisely rounded numbers on mileage, and gross income that doesn’t match the 1099-NEC DoorDash filed all draw scrutiny.
The best defense is boring documentation: a mileage log kept in real time, receipts for purchases, and a bank statement trail for business transactions. Trouble usually finds the drivers reconstructing a year of mileage from memory in April, not the ones who tracked as they went.
State Taxes Are Separate
Everything above is federal. Most states also tax self-employment income, and a few cities have local income taxes on top of that. State rates range from zero in places like Texas and Florida to over 13% at the high end. Check your state’s department of revenue for filing rules, estimated payment schedules, and any state-specific deductions before you file.