Rideshare and delivery driver (gig work)
A full-time gig worker with a 1099-K, a 1099-NEC, and cash tips. Schedule C with the standard mileage method, self-employment tax, and QBI.
Taxpayer facts
Who this is and what their year looked like.
Devin drives for a rideshare app and delivers for a courier service full time in Orlando. 2025 was his first full year doing gig work as his main job.
He got a 1099-K from the rideshare platform and a 1099-NEC from the courier, and tracked his mileage and cash tips carefully. He uses the standard mileage method for his car and made quarterly estimated payments.
- NameDevin O. Walsh
- Date of birth11/28/1996
- SSN267-54-8890
- Age (as of 12/31/2025)29
- Filing statusSingle
- DependentsNone
- OccupationSelf-employed rideshare & delivery driver
- Accounting methodCash
- Vehicle2019 Toyota Camry, placed in service for the business 01/03/2025
- Total miles driven in 202524,000 (18,000 of them for business, no commuting miles)
- Business miles driven (logged)18,000
- Vehicle expense methodStandard mileage (70¢/mile for 2025)
- Vehicle recordsHe has written mileage records; the car is available for personal use off duty and he owns no other car
- Address1520 S Semoran Blvd, Apt 214, Orlando, FL 32807
- ResidencyFlorida, full year (no state income tax)
- 2025 estimated tax payments$1,000 federal on each of the four due dates (4/15/25, 6/15/25, 9/15/25, 1/15/26), $4,000 in total
Source documents
Work from these the way you would a real client's paperwork. Everything is fictional.
Objectives
What a correct return should capture.
- Report ALL business income on Schedule C: the 1099-K, the 1099-NEC, and the cash tips.
- Deduct the vehicle cost with the standard mileage method: the business miles at the 2025 rate of 70 cents a mile.
- Deduct the other business expenses (platform fees, phone, supplies, tolls) and total all expenses.
- Arrive at the Schedule C net profit (line 31).
- Compute self-employment tax on Schedule SE.
- Take the adjustment for one-half of the SE tax, and the QBI deduction on Form 8995 (watch the 20%-of-taxable-income limit).
- Apply the standard deduction and the estimated payments to find the refund or balance due.
- Test the estimates against the safe harbor: compare each quarterly payment to the required installment (the smaller of 90% of 2025 tax or 100% of 2024 tax, split into four). If any quarter falls short, figure the Form 2210 penalty at the 7% rate and add it to the amount owed on the 1040.
- Fill in Schedule C Part IV. Standard mileage without it is an e-file error: the IRS wants the date the car went into service, the mileage split, and the answers about personal use and written records.
- Note that Florida has no state income tax.
Check your work
The answer key and the complete return, the way a real client receives it: the 1040 and its schedules, the workpapers behind every number, and the signature forms.
Stuck? Work through it with Yehuda
A one-on-one, 30-minute tutoring session on this return with Yehuda Tenenbaum, EA. Bring the spot where you got stuck and we will work through it together: how the forms connect, why a figure lands where it does, and how to check your work. $250. This is education on the practice return, not advice on your own taxes.