Alright so you’re a delivery driver/partner for Deliveroo, Uber Eats, or similar service and wondering how you’re going to be taxed? We often get asked how the ATO treats people who work in the gig economy, which includes Deliveroo partners.
So don’t panic, we’ve got the answers you’re looking for.
Don’t leave anything out of your online tax return. If you save every little bit, and deduct everything you’re entitled to, the tax return can be massive.
If tax time is fast approaching and you’re getting nervous over how to handle your tax return, we’re here to help. In this article we will guide you through how Deliveroo partners can handle their tax.
Do I need an ABN for Deliveroo?
One of the most common questions we get asked here at OCL from people who deliver food, such as Deliveroo drivers, is if you need an ABN. As a Deliveroo partner, you are considered to be a paid contractor, which means you DO need an ABN.
This means you have to do two things:
- Be responsible for paying your own tax
- Be responsible for paying your own superannuation
How to get your own ABN
Getting your own ABN is simple enough, and can be done for free. All you need to do is apply using the ABR website.
Remember to declare ALL of your income
Now that you have your own ABN and are completely responsible for declaring your own income, it can be easy to forget and accidentally miss something. With our help, let’s try to avoid any accidental omissions on your tax return, and let’s declare everything to the ATO (they have a knack of knowing when something is missing).
Your taxable income includes:
- PAYG summaries
- Pensions and government allowances
- Interest earned (banks etc)
- Dividends
- Rental property income
- Business income
- Other income earned (capital gains etc)
When you submit a tax return with OCL, we get one of our Number’s Geek to have a look over it before it is sent to the ATO. If we think there’s a mistake or anything the ATO may find suspicious, we’ll let you know and iron out the creases together.
An important tax tip for Deliveroo partners
If you are an employee, your employer will be deducting your tax from your weekly wage, so you don’t have to worry about tax throughout the year.
If you work with Deliveroo, they will not deduct your tax from the income you earn.
So when you eventually lodge your tax return, the ATO will be asking you to pay them your slice of the pie that is your income tax. This means you need to make sure you don’t spend all of your Deliveroo income, and remember you need to eventually pay the ATO.
We often recommend setting aside 30% of all payments you receive so you have plenty of money saved when it comes to paying the ATO at tax time.
Do you need more time to pay the ATO?
How to extend your tax due date
After you lodge your tax return the ATO will send you a Notice of Assessment. This handy document will tell you when you need to pay your tax, which is usually before October 1st.
But did you know that we can extend this date for you? Well if you didn’t, it’s true!
If you lodge your tax return with OCL before October 31st, or at least register interest, we may be able to extend your tax payment due date all the way up until May 15th of the following year.
Lodging your return with OCL takes absolutely no time at all because all of your details are pre-saved and auto filled into our system which makes things incredibly easy for you.
Some common tax deductions for Deliveroo partners
- Buying any uniforms and clothes for your rideshare or Deliveroo uniform
- The cost of laundry for clothes/uniforms that are worn for Deliveroo
- Protective clothing items that you use for your rideshare work (masks, hair nets, gloves, sunscreen if working in sunny areas etc)
- Purchase of equipment and supplies used for your Deliveroo work up to $300
- Mobile phone tax deduction expenses
- Vehicle upkeep (registration, licensing, insurance etc)
- Depreciation expense of equipment and tools over $300
- The repair and/or upkeep of Deliveroo equipment including car expenses ATO
- Interest generated from loans relating to work activities
- Self-education and courses that will improve your Deliveroo work
- Licence and certification that you will need for your Deliveroo work
- Work union fees/other similar organisations
- Subscriptions and magazines relating to Deliveroo
- Travel expenses if work related (conferences, moving between jobs, and going to pick-up clients)
- Driving between two places of work in your own vehicle. This is usually best claimed using the cents per km method of claiming a tax deduction.
You need to register for an ABN… But do you need to register for GST?
To keep it simple… No, you do not need to register for GST if you drive for Deliveroo.
But if we want to make things a little more complicated… If you also drive for Uber or other ride sharing services, you need to register for GST and GST will apply to ALL of your business activities, which includes Deliveroo.
So, to try spell it out as simple as possible:
- If you only drive Deliveroo – you DO NOT need to register GST
- If you also rideshare – you DO need to register GST for ALL your work
Where do most Deliveroo partners go for help with tax?
The more you deduct, the less tax you pay and the more money you can spend on yourself. The sure-fire way to do that is with a tax agent or accountant. You can also claim your tax agent/tax return fee back on tax, so why wouldn’t you use one to minimise your tax and maximise your money?
One Click Life offers online tax returns at your fingertips in an easy-to-use platform run by industry professionals.
Taxes, health insurance, and wills can be time-consuming and tedious. Our app allows you to be able to do this fuss-free, giving you a simple way to organise, track and manage all of your life admin in one place.
Let One Click Life take care of your tax return and life’s essential tasks, so you can spend more time doing the things you love.