Deductions for Delivery Drivers: What to Track

Start with your worker status

This guide is for US drivers who do delivery work as independent contractors or other self-employed workers. The IRS gig-work guide says delivery work can be gig work, but an employee and an independent contractor can have different tax and reimbursement treatment.

Do not decide your status from an app name or from a single tax form. Ask the business paying you if you are unsure, and follow the current IRS guidance for your situation. The categories below are a recordkeeping starting point, not a promise that every cost is deductible.

Choose one vehicle-cost method

For a car used in delivery work, the IRS describes two methods: the standard mileage rate or actual vehicle expenses. The 2026 business standard mileage rate is 72.5 cents per mile. Eligibility and first-year choices matter, so check the rules before relying on either method.

With standard mileage, you do not add gas, oil, repairs, insurance or depreciation again for the same car and year. With actual expenses, you track those costs and apply the business-use percentage. Both methods need a reliable mileage record.

Track costs tied to deliveries

The general IRS test is that a business expense must be ordinary and necessary. The small-business tax guide also says to separate the personal part of a mixed expense from the business part. That is why the record behind a cost matters as much as the category name.

Make a separate list of costs that exist because you do delivery work. Review it with your tax preparer if an item has mixed personal use, is expensive equipment or is unclear. Do not turn a receipt into a deduction just by putting it in a business folder.

• Platform or payment-processing fees: save the platform statement and compare it with your delivery income records.
• Delivery supplies: keep receipts and note how an insulated bag, phone mount or other item was used for the work.
• Phone and data use: identify the business portion instead of treating all personal service as a delivery expense.
• Business-related parking and tolls: retain the receipt or account record and the associated trip detail.
• Professional help or software: keep the invoice and explain its direct delivery-business purpose.

Do not count every drive

Personal driving is not a business expense. The IRS commuting rules generally treat travel between home and a main or regular workplace as personal, even if you make business calls during the trip. Delivery routes can be fact-specific, particularly when you have no regular office or have a qualifying home office.

For that reason, label the reason for each trip rather than writing only “work.” Do not add a regular commute merely because you had delivery gear in the car. If a home-office exception or first-and-last-stop question may apply, use Publication 463 or a qualified tax professional before claiming it.

Build one record for each shift

The IRS says supporting documents should show the amount paid and that it was for a business expense. A card statement alone proves payment, not necessarily the business reason. Pair the statement with the receipt, trip record or platform statement that explains it.

A small shift file is a practical way to make those documents usable at tax time. It is your own filing routine, not an IRS form. Use the same reference number in your mileage log, expense list and receipt folder.

1. After a shift, record business miles and any clearly personal or commuting miles separately.
2. Save the platform earnings or payment record and note its date range.
3. Photograph or save receipts for tolls, supplies and other work costs, then add a short business-purpose note.
4. Once a week, compare the list with your card or bank activity and mark duplicates, refunds and missing documents for review.

Example: one delivery day

This fictional example uses the 2026 standard mileage rate only to show the recordkeeping math. It does not establish that a particular driver can use that method or claim these amounts.

The driver records a $2.50 business toll separately. They do not also add gas or repair receipts to this standard-mileage example, because those operating costs are already represented by the mileage rate.