Filing yearly taxes

Taxes are hard, especially if you’re self-employed.

Every year, the Lyft support team is inundated with tax-related questions from drivers. After an in-depth data analysis, we realized that not only were users’ top questions not answered by our existing content, but that the majority of our users couldn’t even locate the articles within the app’s information architecture (IA).

With that in mind, I redesigned our in-app tax content and IA in December of 2021. We also made these changes in a long-form format on the web Help Center.

This time, we focused on three things:

  1. Making sure drivers could find the articles with little-to-no effort

  2. Presenting the most frequently asked questions first in articles

  3. Clearly defining all terms in language that’s Grade 6 or below

In a data analysis following the 2021 tax season, we found that 3x as many drivers actually viewed the content this year (meaning it was easy to find!), and support ticket volume was still reduced by 24% compared to tax tickets in 2020. Ultimately, it’s estimated these changes are saving the company $40k-50k every year in support costs.

What forms will I need to file my taxes?

When it’s time to file your taxes, you’ll find the documents you’ll need in the ‘Tax information’ tab of your Dashboard. They’ll be available to download by January 31.

There are three documents that Lyft provides for drivers based on annual earnings:

  • Annual summary: All drivers will receive an Annual Summary if they received any earnings during the year. Your Annual Summary isn’t an official tax document.
  • 1099-K form: Some drivers will receive a 1099-K form depending on how much they earned while giving rides.
  • 1099-NEC form: Some drivers will receive a 1099-NEC form depending on how much they earned from things like bonuses.

Whether or not you receive any 1099 forms, you can reference your Annual Summary when you file your taxes. It summarizes your earnings and expenses for the year.

Lyft can’t give tax advice, but we’ll do our best to make it easy for you to file your taxes. If your question isn’t covered here, we recommend talking to a tax professional.

Your Annual Summary

Your Annual Summary summarizes your earnings and expenses from the last year.

The Annual Summary shows your:

  • Total rides
  • Online miles
  • Gross earnings (amount you earned before any fees)
  • Expenses (including fees, taxes, and tolls)
  • Wage garnishments (if any)

Learn more about your Annual Summary →

1099-K and 1099-NEC forms

There are two types of 1099 forms: 1099-K and 1099-NEC.

Not every driver qualifies for 1099 forms. If you didn’t earn enough to qualify for either form, you won’t need that form to file your taxes.

You’ll only receive these forms if you earned a certain amount during the year:

  • 1099-K form: is based on the amount you earned from giving rides.
  • 1099-NEC form: is based on your total non-ride earnings (like referral bonuses).

If you don’t qualify for a 1099 form, you can reference your Annual Summary instead. Your Annual Summary summarizes your earnings and expenses from the last year.

Find out if you qualify for a 1099 →