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Accountants for private hire and delivery drivers
Uber, Bolt, Free Now, Deliveroo, Just Eat, Amazon Flex and courier owner-drivers.
The mistake almost every driver makes
The money the platform pays into your bank is not your turnover. Uber, Bolt, Deliveroo and Just Eat all take their commission off before they pay you. HMRC wants the gross fare - the whole amount the passenger or customer paid - declared as income, with the platform’s commission claimed separately as an expense.
Declare only what landed in the bank and your turnover is understated. That matters more than it sounds: it is the figure that decides whether you have crossed the VAT threshold, and it is the first thing HMRC checks, because the platforms now report your earnings to them directly.
What we do
- Work your income up from the platform statements and your bank, month by month.
- Decide between the mileage rate and actual running costs - one is usually worth several hundred pounds more than the other, and it depends on your car and your annual mileage.
- Claim the vehicle properly, including capital allowances on a purchased car and the finance element of a hire purchase agreement.
- Sort out the everyday costs that get forgotten: PHV and operator licences, the DBS check, the MOT and servicing, insurance, congestion and clean air charges, valeting, phone and data.
- Complete and file the SA103 self-employment pages of your tax return.
Two dates to keep
5 October is the deadline to tell HMRC you need to file, if this is your first year driving. 31 January is when the return has to be filed and the tax paid. Miss the second one and the penalty starts at £100 whether or not you owe any tax.
You are not the first and it is fixable. Ring us before the letters get worse - we deal with late returns constantly and can tell you where you stand before you commit to anything. Our penalty calculator will show you roughly what has built up so far.
And from April 2027
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax means quarterly updates to HMRC instead of one return a year, for drivers over the income threshold. If your record keeping is currently a shoebox, this is the year to change that. Check whether it applies to you.
Common questions
Private hire and delivery drivers - the questions we get asked
Do I declare what Uber paid me, or the full fare?
The full fare. Uber's commission comes off as an expense afterwards. Declaring only the net payout understates your turnover, which matters for the VAT threshold and is the first thing HMRC checks.
Mileage rate or actual costs - which is better?
It depends on the car and how many miles you do. We work out both and use whichever leaves you better off, but once you choose for a vehicle you generally have to stay with it.
I drive for two apps and do some deliveries. Is that separate?
No. It is all one self-employed trade on one set of self-employment pages, so we combine the income and the expenses across every platform you drive for.