How to Use the Delivery Gig Worker Tax Calculator
Drivers for DoorDash, Uber Eats, Instacart, and similar apps are classified as independent contractors, not employees. Platforms report your earnings on Form 1099-NEC, and no taxes are withheld from your pay — you're responsible for calculating and paying both self-employment tax and federal income tax yourself, typically through quarterly estimated payments.
Self-employment (SE) tax replaces the Social Security and Medicare taxes an employer would normally split with you. It's calculated at 15.3% of 92.35% of your net earnings (income minus business expenses), which approximates the employer-side payroll tax you'd otherwise avoid. You also get to deduct half of your SE tax when figuring your income tax, which this calculator applies automatically.
Tracking deductible expenses — mileage, phone costs, delivery bags, and other supplies — directly reduces both your SE tax and income tax, since both are based on net earnings after expenses. This calculator gives a simplified estimate; it doesn't apply the Social Security wage base cap (around $176,100 for 2025, above which the Social Security portion of SE tax stops) or state income tax, both of which could change your actual bill.
Frequently Asked Questions
As a gig worker, you're self-employed rather than an employee, so no employer withholds or matches Social Security and Medicare taxes for you. Self-employment tax (15.3%) covers both the employee and employer share of those payroll taxes, on top of regular federal income tax.
The IRS lets you reduce your net earnings by 7.65% before applying the 15.3% self-employment tax rate, as a rough proxy for the employer-side payroll tax an employee's company would normally absorb. You can also deduct half of your self-employment tax when calculating income tax.
Common deductions include mileage (using the IRS standard mileage rate or actual vehicle costs), phone bills used for the app, insulated delivery bags, and a portion of your phone plan. Track these carefully with an app or mileage log — you'll need records to support them on Schedule C.