CLEVELAND — For a group of Uber drivers in the Cleveland area, the arduous task of filing their tax returns has been even more difficult. Multiple drivers have reported issues with their tax documents coming from the rideshare company.
John Booth, a full-time Uber and Lyft driver that has completed an estimated 20,000 trips in his career, recently received his tax documents from Uber and noticed several months were missing reported income. Booth said he wasn’t the only one.
“We found out that at least as of now there are 10 different drivers that either have no enough earnings based on what they’ve made that are incorrect or drivers that have no earnings at all,” Booth said.
Booth provided to News 5 a copy of his Form 1099, which is similar to a W-2 but for independent contractors. On his 1099, no earnings were reported for the months of September, October, November and December, although Booth’s trip history shows dozens upon dozens of trips given in that time.
Another driver, who wanted to remain anonymous, also reported missing data on as many as four months on his 1099.
“It is a concern because this is a document that goes to the IRS,” the driver said. “Even if it is underreporting information that may or may not be to our benefit, it’s still a document that is going to the IRS or incorrect information.”
Five business days after News 5 reached out to Uber representatives about the issue, the rideshare company managed to track down the errors with Booth’s 1099. A company official said the issues were the result of a clerical error with a vendor.
Uber officials said drivers that have issues with their 1099 are encouraged to reach out to the local hub in Cleveland.
