Tips worth writing down

Education for Bay Area app drivers. Not a promise of earnings, and not tax advice.

These notes match the $12 Tax & Mileage Kit and the free weekly money checklist. The longer zone guide and the operator's manual are separate PDFs we sell on Gumroad. The rental fleet is currently full.

1. Split 2026 miles at July 1

The IRS business standard mileage rate is 72.5 cents per mile from January 1 through June 30, 2026 (Notice 2026-10) and 76 cents per mile on or after July 1, 2026 (Announcement 2026-11). One number for the whole year will not match the bulletin. Two columns in the log are enough: miles before July 1, and miles on or after July 1. The IRS rate table is the source to recheck.

2. Write the trip down before you decide what it is

A useful log line is the date, starting point, ending point, miles, and why you drove. IRS Publication 463 treats the drive from home to your regular work as commuting. Commuting is not a business mile just because the app did not pay for it. Miles between stops after work has started, including unpaid miles between deliveries, are a different category. The drive from home to the first pickup is the one people most often mislabel. Record it, then sort it with a tax pro. The FAQ walks through standard mileage versus actual expenses.

3. Keep Prop 22 miles out of the tax column

Proposition 22 engaged miles are a California pay calculation for some app-based driving. They are not the IRS test for a deductible mile. Exporting the app's engaged-mile total and calling it your tax mileage skips the trips Pub 463 cares about and includes a definition the IRS did not write. Keep the app's pay report for your income records, and keep a separate mileage log for the car.

4. Check the tires before the shift, not after a problem

Once a week, look at tread, sidewall bubbles, and the pressure on the door-sticker number when the tires are cold. A spare five minutes in a driveway is cheaper than a tow. This is a safety habit, not a claim about how much a careful driver makes.

Guides we sell

These are our PDFs, not paid third-party placements. Bay Area Dasher Tips is $17. The Gig Worker Playbook is $17. The Tax & Mileage Kit is $12. Mentorship, if you want a person to work through the worksheets with you, has no price on this site. Email goldengclub@proton.me.