Keeper Tax for Uber and Lyft Drivers (October 2026): Price, Deductions and the Mileage Gap

Disclosure: the Keeper links on this page are affiliate links. If you start a Keeper free trial through one, we earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Links to Uber, Lyft, the IRS and other vendors are plain links that earn us nothing. The commission did not decide what is written below, and it is the reason this page says plainly where Keeper falls short for drivers. See our affiliate disclosure. Editorial placement is decided on merit and is not for sale.

By Lennit Herrera, founder and editor  ·  Last updated October 13, 2026

The verdict: Keeper can file a rideshare driver’s return for $199 a year (Standard), and it scans your bank and card transactions for deductions such as phone, tolls and car washes. But for a driver the biggest deduction is usually mileage, and on October 13, 2026 Keeper’s own pricing page and homepage still list “Track mileage” as “Coming soon.” So a driver who picks Keeper needs a separate mileage log, and the IRS wants that log kept at or near the time of each trip. If you already keep a log and mainly want a filed return plus a deduction scan, Keeper is a reasonable fit. If you want one app that logs your miles, look elsewhere first.

Every Keeper price, plan feature, trial and cancellation term below was read on October 13, 2026 from Keeper’s own pricing page, homepage, mileage page and Terms of Use (last modified July 29, 2026). Uber’s and Lyft’s tax rules were read from Uber’s tax page and Lyft’s tax page the same day, and the tax rules from IRS.gov. Prices and promotions move; check each page before you buy.

This article is information and education, not financial or tax advice. Keeper is a software and tax-preparation product, not a bank, broker or adviser. Whether a particular expense or mile is deductible for you is a question for a qualified tax professional or the IRS’s own guidance.

On this page

• What a rideshare driver has to file
• What Keeper costs and what a driver gets
• The mileage gap
• Where Keeper does help a driver
• Is Keeper the Uber or Lyft tax partner?
• Watch out for
• Who should use it and who should skip it
• What Keeper does not do
• How we compared
• FAQ
• Bottom line

What a rideshare driver has to file

Uber and Lyft treat drivers as independent contractors, so no tax is withheld from your payouts. The IRS says an independent contractor counts as self-employed, and that you usually pay self-employment tax once your net earnings from self-employment reach $400 ( IRS Topic 554 ). That tax is 12.4% for Social Security plus 2.9% for Medicare, figured on Schedule SE, and it comes on top of ordinary income tax. You report the business on Schedule C, which is where the car deduction lives.

The paperwork you receive from the platforms differs by company, and both pages said so on October 13:

• Annual tax summary (Uber) or Annual Summary (Lyft). Each platform says this is not an official tax document, but that it carries information to help you file, including online miles.
• Form 1099-K. Uber says you get one if you received $20,000 or more in customer payments, and Lyft says it applies if passengers paid at least $20,000 and you gave at least 200 rides in 2025. The IRS page on Form 1099-K gives the same federal test: over $20,000 in more than 200 transactions. Both platforms add that some states set lower thresholds. A 1099-K shows gross payments, before fees, so your bank deposits will not match it.
• Form 1099-NEC. Issued by both for $600 or more of non-ride income such as referral bonuses and incentives.

Getting no 1099-K does not mean you owe nothing. Lyft’s page says in so many words that “even if you don’t receive a 1099-K, you may still have to file taxes.” And if you expect to owe $1,000 or more after withholding, the IRS says you generally need to make estimated tax payments through the year. Everything after this point is about which software makes those jobs easier, and Keeper is one candidate.

What Keeper costs and what a driver gets

Keeper’s pricing page on October 13, 2026 shows four options, all with a 14-day free trial that the page says you can cancel before it ends without being charged:

Keeper’s own FAQ points out the arithmetic: Standard at $199 costs less than twelve months of Bookkeeping Only, which is $240. For most drivers the realistic choice is Standard. Premium is worth a look only if you want Keeper to schedule your quarterly payments, because that feature is listed on Premium and not on Standard. Our full Keeper review covers the company’s history and the fine print, and our Keeper vs QuickBooks Solopreneur comparison prices the main alternative.

Start Keeper’s 14-day free trial → (then $199 a year for Standard unless you cancel)

The mileage gap

For most people who drive for Uber or Lyft, miles are the largest single deduction, which is why this section is the longest. Three facts frame it.

1. The 2026 rate changed mid-year. The IRS lists 72.5 cents a mile for January 1 to June 30, 2026 and 76 cents a mile for July 1 to December 31, 2026 for business use ( IRS standard mileage rates, last reviewed July 28, 2026). The 2025 rate was 70 cents. A driver using the standard method needs miles split by date to apply the right rate to each half. As an illustration of our own arithmetic, 12,000 business miles in each half would be 12,000 × $0.725 = $8,700 plus 12,000 × $0.76 = $9,120, or $17,820 in total, which then reduces your profit before income and self-employment tax are figured. Your numbers will differ.

2. The platforms’ own mileage covers only part of your driving. Uber says the total on its tax summary counts miles while you are active in the Driver app: waiting for a trip or driving to a busier area, driving to the pickup, and driving on the trip itself. Its worked example has a driver traveling 10 miles to a waiting area, 5 to a pickup and 10 on the trip for 25 miles in total. Lyft’s Annual Summary also reports online miles. Neither says it counts miles driven offline, such as a drive to buy water and snacks for riders or a trip to the car wash, and those can still be business miles. Uber also tells drivers it does not provide tax advice.

3. The IRS wants the log made at the time. Publication 463 says you “can’t deduct amounts that you approximate or estimate,” and that you should record the elements of business use “at or near the time” of the use. It adds that a log kept weekly counts as timely, and that a record prepared on a computer is an adequate record. For cars, the elements include the date of use, the business destination and purpose, the mileage for each business use, and the total miles for the year.

Now put Keeper next to that. Its pricing page and homepage navigation both read “Track mileage: Coming soon.” But the separate Keeper mileage page describes the feature in the present tense: automatic background drive logging, a business-or-personal tap for each drive, a running deduction estimate at the IRS standard rate, and manual entry. We could not reconcile the two, and we have not used the app, so we cannot say whether a driver can log trips in it today. Treat the pricing page’s “Coming soon” as the more conservative reading, and before you pay, ask Keeper support in writing whether the mileage feature is live for the plan you want.

What this means in practice: until you have confirmed mileage logging works, pair Keeper with a separate log. A paper notebook can meet the IRS test if you fill it in on time, but a dedicated mileage app is easier to keep up. Lyft’s page offers drivers a discount on Everlance Starter (20% to 60% depending on Lyft Rewards tier, free for Elite drivers) and says Lyft drivers can get 25% off TurboTax federal products. Our comparison of tax deduction tracking apps prices the main mileage options, and the QuickBooks route in our QuickBooks comparison covers logging with trips included.

Standard rate or actual expenses?

The IRS lets you deduct car costs one of two ways, standard mileage or actual expenses ( Topic 510 ). One trap for new drivers: for a car you own, you can use the standard rate in later years only if you chose it in the first year the car was available for your business. Parking fees and tolls are deductible separately either way. Keeper’s mileage page says its tax assistant can compare both methods and file whichever is larger, if you also track gas, insurance and repairs as expenses. That claim is Keeper’s, and we have not tested it.

Where Keeper does help a driver

Set mileage aside and the product has a real job: it connects to your bank and card accounts and, according to its pricing page, uses AI to find and categorize deductions, with unlimited connected accounts on every plan. For a driver whose costs run through a card, that covers a lot of the non-mileage list. Keeper’s own write-off guide for Uber and Lyft drivers lists 23 items, among them passenger snacks and water, phone chargers and mounts, music subscriptions used for riders, car washes and floor mats, tolls, parking, the business share of your phone bill, and rideshare insurance. We did not check each item against IRS rules, and the guide itself says phone and similar costs are deductible only in proportion to business use.

The useful part is the sorting. A card statement full of gas, car washes, phone bills and Amazon orders is exactly what a scanner is for, and Keeper says it lets you split mixed orders into business and personal items. Whether its suggestions are accurate is something we cannot judge, and the return is still yours to sign.

Is Keeper the Uber or Lyft tax partner?

A 2022 Keeper announcement says Keeper was “selected as Uber’s primary tax partner” for 2022 taxes. That page is old, and you will still see it cited. Uber’s current driver tax page, read on October 13, 2026, does not mention Keeper. It offers drivers up to 50% off TurboTax Self-Employed products, says all drivers and couriers get 25% off TurboTax Premium Federal and that Diamond drivers get 50%, and lets you import the Uber tax summary into TurboTax. Lyft’s page lists Everlance and TurboTax. We found no sign that Keeper has a current discount or import arrangement with either, so do not buy Keeper expecting your Uber or Lyft summary to flow in automatically.

One more mismatch worth knowing: Uber’s page says the standard rate “for 2025” is 72.5 cents per mile. The IRS table says 70 cents for 2025, and 72.5 cents is the first-half 2026 rate. Lyft’s page says 70 cents. When a platform’s help page and the IRS disagree, the IRS wins.

Watch out for

• The trial bills automatically. Keeper’s Terms say a free trial converts to a paid subscription, and that to avoid charges you must cancel by 11:59 pm Pacific the day before the trial ends. Set a reminder.
• Yearly plans renew. The Terms say subscriptions auto-renew for successive terms of the same length, and that you cancel in Settings or by emailing support at least one day before the next term starts.
• Refunds are at Keeper’s discretion. The Terms say Keeper “may grant” a refund if you cancel within one month of your first term, and otherwise fees are non-refundable, apart from specific refund guarantees tied to calculation errors on a return.
• Audit protection is not on the Standard card. Keeper’s pricing page lists it under Premium and Business only, so read the current page before assuming Standard includes it. The Terms also say Keeper will not refund or reimburse additional taxes, interest or penalties.
• Disputes go to arbitration. The Terms contain an individual-arbitration clause and a class-action waiver, which is common in software terms but worth knowing.
• Mileage is the open question. See above: confirm it is live before relying on it.

Who should use it and who should skip it

Keeper makes sense if your car and phone costs go through a card or bank account, you already keep a dated mileage log in another app, you file a Schedule C, and you want one yearly price that ends in a filed and reviewed return. For a driver in that position, $199 is easy to compare against paying a preparer.

Skip it, or at least wait, if you need the app itself to log your trips, you want a Uber or Lyft summary to import automatically (TurboTax is the one the platforms currently promote), or you want a free tier to start on. Keeper has no free plan, only the 14-day trial.

What Keeper does not do

• It does not make a tax position correct. A deduction suggested by software is still your claim. If you are audited, the burden of showing the miles and costs is on you.
• It does not replace the platform’s own forms. You still need your 1099s and summaries, and you should check your name, taxpayer ID and address with each platform, because Uber’s page notes those feed the forms it issues.
• It does not track income in the app yet. The pricing page also lists “Track income” as “Coming soon.”
• It does not guarantee a refund or a lower bill. Self-employment tax is owed on net profit whether or not your income tax comes out to a refund.

How we compared

We compared 4 Keeper plan options against 13 primary pages read on October 13, 2026: Keeper’s pricing page, homepage, mileage page, write-off guide and Terms of Use; Uber’s and Lyft’s driver tax pages; and six IRS pages (standard mileage rates, Topics 306, 510 and 554, the Form 1099-K page and Publication 463). We also read three Keeper articles for drivers and used them only to find claims to check. We do not test tax software or file returns with the products we cover, and have not used Keeper’s app; nothing here is a claim about how well its deduction scan or mileage logging works. Where a number is our own arithmetic, the text says so. Corrections are welcome through our contact page.

FAQ

How much is Keeper for an Uber or Lyft driver?

Standard is $199 a year and includes a federal return and up to two state returns reviewed by a tax pro, per Keeper’s pricing page on October 13, 2026. A $20-a-month Bookkeeping Only plan exists but does not file taxes. Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial.

Does Keeper track mileage for drivers?

Its pricing page and homepage say “Coming soon,” while its mileage page describes automatic logging as a feature. We could not reconcile the two. Confirm with Keeper before relying on it, and keep a separate log until you have.

What rate do I use for 2026 mileage?

The IRS lists 72.5 cents a mile for January through June 2026 and 76 cents a mile from July 1 through December 31, 2026, so apply each rate to the miles driven in that half.

Does Uber’s tax summary give me all the miles I can deduct?

Uber says it counts miles while you are online in the Driver app: waiting, driving to pickup and on trip. It does not claim to count offline business driving, and Uber says it does not give tax advice. The IRS expects a record of each business use made at or near the time.

Do I need a 1099-K to file?

No. Both Uber and Lyft say you may still have to file without one. The federal 1099-K threshold is over $20,000 in more than 200 transactions, though some states set lower thresholds.

Is Keeper the official Uber or Lyft tax partner?

Keeper announced a primary-partner role with Uber for 2022 taxes. Uber’s current driver tax page promotes TurboTax, and Lyft’s lists Everlance and TurboTax. We found no current Keeper arrangement on either.

Can I cancel Keeper if I do not like it?

Yes. Cancel in Settings before the trial or term ends. Refunds after you are charged are discretionary under the Terms.

Bottom line

On October 13, 2026, Keeper is a $199-a-year way to get a driver’s deductions scanned and a return filed and reviewed, but not yet a mileage solution, by its own pricing page. If your log is covered elsewhere, the 14-day trial costs nothing to test. If it is not, solve the log first, because it is the deduction the IRS is most likely to ask you to prove.

Try Keeper free for 14 days → (then $199 a year for Standard unless you cancel)

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