I'm an Uber driver. I usually activate the app as soon as I'm done with my day job and head home from there. If I get a ping, great! But sometimes I make it home and never get a ping. Can I still claim this mileage on my federal taxes? Currently, I am documenting all mileage while the app is activated.

As a UBER taxi driver, you are considered self-employed aslongas you set your own hours and no one supervises how you do your job. Even if you rent your cab from a fleet and use a dispatcher; you have two choices: claim miles driven as only tax deductible plus tolls and parking fees under the mileage method (best option as you drive many miles), or separately claim items such as phone bill, reaprs, licenses car washes, maintenance, etc but NO tolls and parking fees under actual expense method You’ll get the most money back if you just claim miles driven on your 1099-MISC. you may keep a spreadsheet tracking your miles in separation, but at the end of the year, UBER 'd actually keep track of all the miles you have driven (and that includes miles driven between rides.. driving around and driving to pick-up). UBER will similarly track miles.