Nobody ever showed Sergio how to track mileage for taxes. He installs cable during the day and delivers food around Phoenix in the evenings and on weekends. Last year the delivery side made him roughly $16,800 and put about 10,000 miles on his car.
When tax season came, he paid tax on nearly the full $16,800. Business miles never crossed his mind. His receipts were sun-faded slips in the cupholder, and there was no record of a single trip. Then a coworker asked him, “You do log your miles, right?” He did not.
For anyone who drives to earn, miles are often the largest deduction available. They are also the easiest to lose, because nobody hands you a receipt for driving. If it is not written down at the time, it is gone.
Miles you drive, money you lose
When people hear “deduction,” they picture shopping receipts. Driving leaves no paper trail. Without a date, a distance and a reason for each trip, there is nothing to claim later, and many delivery and rideshare drivers end up paying tax on money that really went into their car.
Sergio was not looking for a bookkeeping hobby. He wanted something small enough to keep up every week. So early in the new tax year he set up a record-keeping system designed around gig driving.
A system built from five answers
Setup took about two minutes. Type of side hustle: food delivery. Monthly earnings: around $1,400. Where the work happens: in the car. Current method: loose receipts, mostly lost. Business setup: none, he gets 1099 forms as a sole proprietor.
What came back
vehicle costs through the standard mileage rate, a share of the phone bill, delivery bags, parking and tolls, each with the proof it needs.
an expense sheet with a “business purpose” column and a separate trip log for odometer readings, miles and reasons.
snap a photo within a day, keep everything for seven years and add one sentence on why each expense was for work.
miles first, then phone, parking and tolls. And a short note on quarterly estimated taxes for anyone making over $500 a month on the side.
The math landed hard. At the 2026 rate of 72.5 cents per mile, 10,000 miles is about $7,250 of driving costs he had simply never claimed.
His new weekly routine
Every shift · Two odometer numbers – one before the first order, one after the last. A single line in the log: date, miles, “food deliveries.”
Every purchase · One photo – a phone folder only for work receipts: bags, a phone mount, parking. Photo taken, paper tossed.
Every Friday · Ten minutes – the week’s miles and receipts go into the sheet, and each line gets its business reason.
Every quarter · Tax set aside – a slice of each week’s earnings goes into a separate pot for estimated tax payments, so April holds no surprise.
Week one was the only tricky part. Once the odometer photo became part of starting a shift, it took no effort at all.
Built for the job he actually does
A generic notes app had lasted three days the year before. This setup worked because it was built for delivery driving: no confusing columns, nothing that did not apply to him, and a weekly check short enough to never skip.
- Recording miles the same day
- A one-line reason for each entry
- Receipt photos taken right away
- Seven years of saved records
- Money set aside for quarterly tax
- Estimating miles at tax time
- Receipts left to fade in the car
- Mixing personal drives into the log
- Bank statements as the only proof
- One big tax bill in April
Half a year in, the log holds about 5,100 business miles, which puts him close to 10,000 by year end. A tax preparer looked over his records and called them exactly what she likes to see. This time his taxable income will be thousands of dollars lower than last year.
Ways to handle side hustle records, compared
Doing nothing had already cost Sergio one tax year. A quick look at the choices:
| Approach | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Not tracking | Free | Tax on costs you already paid |
| A general expense app | Free or monthly | Storage, but no guide for your type of work |
| A preparer at tax time | $150+ | Filing help, but no way to rebuild lost records |
| Side Hustle Expense Tracker | $9 | Your hustle’s categories, a trip log, receipt rules and often-missed deductions |
“Will this file my taxes for me?” No. It gives you a clear way to keep records, which is what any tax professional needs from you. The rules depend on your situation, so check the details with a CPA or preparer before filing. This is general US guidance, and everyone’s results are different.
Two others who got their records in order
“I flip thrift store clothes and never wrote down what I paid for each piece. Turns out that was my biggest missed cost. Every buy goes into the sheet the same day now.”
Wanda L. · part-time reseller, Mobile AL
“My handyman receipts used to live on the floor of my truck. Taking a photo within a day fixed that. Tax prep went from an afternoon to half an hour.”
Doug P. · weekend handyman, Fargo ND
Side income different every month? The Irregular Income Budget Plan helps you budget around the ups and downs. Everyone’s results are different, and none of this is personal tax advice.
Sergio did not need more orders. He needed to stop handing over tax on miles he had already paid for. Two odometer numbers per shift, one receipt folder and a ten-minute Friday check took care of it.
*Individual results may vary.
