Uber and Auto Insurance official discussion thread

[geobur]

Take a look at this math.
https://youtu.be/fgQPj90OrQE

Ok I appreciate your skepticism, and that you are trying to help.

But a few things. I've seen this video before and

1) this video is over a year old and a lot of things have changed
2) this is from an American perspective and not indicative of driving in Toronto
3) like any self employed contractor or small business as I'm sure you well know it takes work and isn't as easy as everyone thinks.

But let's go through a few of her points.

- As her first point she mentions the by mile rate an Uber driver earns...But completely ignored the fact Uber drivers also earn a certain amount per minute.
Currently in Toronto the rates are as follows CAD2.5 base fare, CAD2.75 booking fee (paid to Uber instantly so not actually an earning at all), CAD0.18 per min and CAD0.81 per km

- She mentions tax as a deduction as her second point not being charged by Uber and coming out of our income. Well as of July 1, 2017 Uber charges riders HST in addition to the fare. So that is something I just have to set aside and remit to the government through my own registered HST business number.

- The next point she brings up is depreciation, the Canadian government for purposes of taxes considers Uber drivers privately contacted taxi drivers, this allows me to claim all sorts of things. I can claim a portion of my gas, maintenance/repairs/cleaning, rent (office space for admin of my business), a portion of my phone bill since I am using data for business, and any other "business related expenses". There is also a formula for calculating depreciation of assets as far as I know and I believe I can claim a certain portion of that as well (I'm not 100% on that one though)

- On top of that since I am working for myself I need to make my own CPP contribution as well as cover the other half that the employers would normally contribute. This is also a claimable expense that at the end of the year lowers my gross income, which means I pay less taxes and clear more money

- She mentions buying a new car every couple years but this also can be a business expense and a certain amount of that can also be claimed

- she briefly mentions insurance once but in Canada Uber by law has been mandated to cover drivers while logged into the app and at any given time driving for Uber I am fully covered by their policy not mine. So as a full time student my "pleasure use" policy that I have on my car is cheap and I would be paying it regardless of ubering or not.

So really at the end of the day it's like any job or business. It takes work and you have to be responsible with how you budget and manage the finances. No business is an easy way to make money but Uber is extremely flexible and allows me to work around my school schedule. And before taxes I earn a weekly average anywhere between $22-26/h (or higher but I am throwing out base numbers) which is much better than most part time jobs with less flexible hours.

But regardless my interest was just trying to determine if there were any mods or maintenance I could do to improve gas milage to lower my gas expenses.

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