Driving for Lyft and Uber

[AutobahnSHO]

The headline is definitely clickbait and I'm shocked any "media" outlet uses that kind of phrasing now. But the study is interesting, says drivers are paid under minimum wage and everyone is shorting the government on the taxes that should be paid.

https://techcrunch.com/2018/03/02/mit-study-shows-how-much-driving-for-uber-or-lyft-sucks/

[giant_mtb]

That's all fine and dandy, but if it were really that shitty, nobody would be doing it.

[MX793]

The headline is definitely clickbait and I'm shocked any "media" outlet uses that kind of phrasing now. But the study is interesting, says drivers are paid under minimum wage and everyone is shorting the government on the taxes that should be paid.

https://techcrunch.com/2018/03/02/mit-study-shows-how-much-driving-for-uber-or-lyft-sucks/

At least at the state level, governments are catching on and tightening the noose on the gig economy to make sure they are getting their cut.  Massachusetts now requires PayPal to issue a 1099 to any MA resident that receives more than $600 (cumulative) through paypal transactions over the course of a year (even if it's just accepting paypal as payment for selling your old, used stuff), which means that "income" gets reported to both the state and the IRS.  Ordinarily PayPal would only issue a 1099 if you issued 200+ transactions or did $20K in total sales through a year.  No doubt MA is trying to catch the folks earning a little side cash driving for Uber or similar gigs.

[AutobahnSHO]

That's all fine and dandy, but if it were really that shitty, nobody would be doing it.

a lot of people probably don't calculate the wear and tear.

[giant_mtb]

a lot of people probably don't calculate the wear and tear.

Everybody that drives (ie, virtually every adult) deals with wear and tear.  I drive a boatload for work and write off my miles.  Would be a shame if Uber/Lyft caused a shift in mileage write-off...some of us spend a lot more per mile than Uber drivers because we aren't driving fuel efficient vehicles.  Don't wanna deal with wear and tear?  Don't drive for work.  It's pretty simple.  Not making enough money?  Find something else to do.   

Overall, this article just makes me 

[CaminoRacer]

At least at the state level, governments are catching on and tightening the noose on the gig economy to make sure they are getting their cut.  Massachusetts now requires PayPal to issue a 1099 to any MA resident that receives more than $600 (cumulative) through paypal transactions over the course of a year (even if it's just accepting paypal as payment for selling your old, used stuff), which means that "income" gets reported to both the state and the IRS.  Ordinarily PayPal would only issue a 1099 if you issued 200+ transactions or did $20K in total sales through a year.  No doubt MA is trying to catch the folks earning a little side cash driving for Uber or similar gigs.

Wait, so if you get $50 each from 12+ people through PayPal in one year, they send you a 1099? That's garbage

[Soup DeVille]

At least at the state level, governments are catching on and tightening the noose on the gig economy to make sure they are getting their cut.  Massachusetts now requires PayPal to issue a 1099 to any MA resident that receives more than $600 (cumulative) through paypal transactions over the course of a year (even if it's just accepting paypal as payment for selling your old, used stuff), which means that "income" gets reported to both the state and the IRS.  Ordinarily PayPal would only issue a 1099 if you issued 200+ transactions or did $20K in total sales through a year.  No doubt MA is trying to catch the folks earning a little side cash driving for Uber or similar gigs.

So set up your PayPal through a Wyoming S-Corp.

[AutobahnSHO]

  rebuttal is "thoughtful" and the MIT study will be "revisited"...

https://www.yahoo.com/news/mit-study-found-low-pay-uber-drivers-revisited-052824041--finance.html

[veeman]

I used Uber a lot in New Delhi a few weeks ago.  In dollars it was really cheap.  One ride lasting 1 hr and 10 min , 33.8 km  (21 miles), cost me 9.5 dollars. 

[2o6]

As I've said before, Uber/Lyft is more about strategy. There are a lot of guys out there who make *decent* money (IE better than retail and fast food) driving for Lyft/Uber.


I did OK with it, averaging about $14 an hour after gas, (Not counting depreciation tho). For me, it was a good gap filler when I was in college and needed extra cash, and my part time job didn't give me enough.

[AutobahnSHO]

As I've said before, Uber/Lyft is more about strategy. There are a lot of guys out there who make *decent* money (IE better than retail and fast food) driving for Lyft/Uber.

I did OK with it, averaging about $14 an hour after gas, (Not counting depreciation tho). For me, it was a good gap filler when I was in college and needed extra cash, and my part time job didn't give me enough.

And that's probably ok for most drivers. If you were doing it long term that depreciation/wear and tear might really take a bite out of personal profits.

[Morris Minor]

I was in Boston over the weekend for my son's wedding. We took limo services, taxis, Uber & the T.
I'm only an occasional Uber user: can't remember when I'd last used it before this trip. But I'll say it was a delight from my angle. My only gripe was one driver's Ford  Fusion, whose shocks & suspension bushings were beyond end-of-life. Probably beaten to death by Boston's third world road surfaces.

The taxis were disgraceful. Ugh. No wonder they're fading away.

[MrH]

At least at the state level, governments are catching on and tightening the noose on the gig economy to make sure they are getting their cut.  Massachusetts now requires PayPal to issue a 1099 to any MA resident that receives more than $600 (cumulative) through paypal transactions over the course of a year (even if it's just accepting paypal as payment for selling your old, used stuff), which means that "income" gets reported to both the state and the IRS.  Ordinarily PayPal would only issue a 1099 if you issued 200+ transactions or did $20K in total sales through a year.  No doubt MA is trying to catch the folks earning a little side cash driving for Uber or similar gigs.

How is that legal?  I pretty much only use paypal to sell and pay people back.  Neither of those are income and I would trip those limits in a year.

[Xer0]

How is that legal?  I pretty much only use paypal to sell and pay people back.  Neither of those are income and I would trip those limits in a year.

I think Paypal flags transactions differently.  I use Paypal to sell collectibles to individual shops and they then they Paypal me the funds but its not counted as sale since it doesn't go through a seller portal but rather they just send me the money as a gift or a push transaction.  I forget the exact terminology, but it doesn't treat the transaction as a sale on my end and thus not tripping any limits.

Anyway, I feel like some version of this article comes out every year.  And LOL at that guy in the link brushing criticism off by saying "its MIT, they don't make mistakes".  Dude's got some egg on his face now.

[Morris Minor]

Uber has lost its license to operate in London, one of its biggest markets, and one of its few profitable markets.
Uber is part of the fabric there. There are a lot of back stories to this. Established interests (Black cabs) do not like Uber

https://metro.co.uk/2019/11/25/uber-driver-london-mayor-election-firm-loses-licence-11214867/