Your phone: what is deductible, and how to defend the percentage
For most gig drivers the phone is the second-largest deduction after mileage, and the one most often claimed with a number nobody can justify.
You deduct the business-use share. If the phone is 60 percent business, 60 percent of the plan is deductible. The rule is easy. The number is the problem, because "60 percent" chosen in April is a guess wearing a decimal point.
Establish the percentage from evidence. Three defensible routes:
- Screen-time reports by app. Delivery apps, maps and the tracker against everything else. Most phones produce this automatically and it is the easiest evidence to keep.
- Hours online as a share of waking hours. Crude, conservative, and easy to reconstruct from platform records.
- A documented sample period. Two representative weeks recorded properly, applied to the year, with a note of how you did it.
A second phone used exclusively for the business is far cleaner, because exclusive use removes the percentage argument entirely. Exclusive means exclusive: a second phone that also carries your personal messages is not.
The deduction is ordinary. An undocumented high percentage is what draws questions.
What is deductible
- The plan, at the business-use share.
- The handset, at the business-use share, under the rules for business property. How it is treated depends on cost and on which elections apply, which is worth a professional's answer rather than a guess.
- Accessories bought for the work: mount, charger, cables, power bank, case. Shared items at the business share.
- A data add-on taken specifically because of the driving.
- Apps and subscriptions used for the business.
What is not
- The whole bill, unless the phone genuinely has no personal use.
- A family plan in full, when only your line is business.
- A phone your partner uses, on your return.
- The percentage you would like it to be.
Choosing a number you can defend
Screen time is the strongest routine evidence. Most phones break usage down by app. Business apps as a share of total is a direct measurement, it accumulates without effort, and it is contemporaneous, which is the quality the IRS values most in records.
Hours online is the most conservative. If you drive 25 hours a week and are awake 112, that is roughly 22 percent, and it ignores the quoting, admin, support messages and record-keeping that happen off the clock. Conservative is a fine place to be.
A sample period is fine if documented. Two weeks recorded properly, in months that represent a normal year, with a written note of what you counted and why. Write the note when you do it, not when you are asked.
Whatever you choose, record the method with the number. The percentage is not the artefact. The reasoning is.
Worked
Plan at $85 a month, $1,020 a year. Screen-time evidence supports 55 percent business use.
- Deductible: $561.
- Plus accessories bought for the work, say a mount and two cables, $70.
- About $630 of deduction that many drivers never claim at all.
At a combined marginal rate including self-employment tax, that is a few hundred dollars of actual tax. Not life-changing, and it is a few hundred dollars for keeping a screenshot.
Parking, tolls and what else you can deduct. · Schedule C for gig drivers.
The second-phone question
If you already have a spare handset, a business-only phone is often the better setup: cleaner records, no percentage argument, and it keeps the delivery apps' notifications out of your evening.
If it means buying one, do the arithmetic before deciding. The tax saving on a marginally higher deduction rarely justifies a purchase on its own, and buying equipment to save tax is spending a dollar to save a fraction of it.
Exclusive use is a real standard. A "business phone" that holds your personal messaging is a shared phone with a nickname.
Where it sits in the year
The phone deduction is small next to mileage and it is in the same category of failure: an entitlement that goes unclaimed because nobody kept the evidence. The evidence here is a monthly screenshot and a folder of receipts.
The end-of-year checklist. · The four numbers every gig driver should know. · What happens if the IRS questions your mileage.
This page describes the rules, not your situation. Anything unusual belongs with a tax professional.
More in this section
- Cost per mile if you drive an EV
- Does a mileage deduction mean I get 76 cents back per mile?
- The commuting rule, and which gig trips are personal
- I didn't track my miles this year. What now?
- Car washes and cleaning: deductible, or already covered?
- DoorDash mileage: what counts, what does not, and what the app does not track
About MileTruth
MileTruth is an iOS app from Baker Ventures LLC that tracks deductible business mileage for gig and delivery drivers and shows true net pay: what is left after mileage, fuel and self-employment tax, not what the platform showed you at acceptance. It is built for people driving several platforms in the same shift, and for anyone who needs a mileage log that would hold up if the IRS asked for it. The app is in development.
Everything on this site is free and needs no account: the mileage deduction calculator, the per-platform pay breakdowns, and the answers, each one linked to the IRS publication or platform document it came from. MileTruth publishes the source for every number, including the 2026 split-year standard mileage rate, because a deduction you cannot substantiate is not a deduction.
Questions and answers
Can gig drivers deduct their phone bill?
The business-use portion, yes. A phone used for both business and personal purposes is deductible in proportion to business use, and you need a reasonable basis for the percentage rather than a round number chosen afterwards.
How do I work out the business-use percentage?
Establish it from evidence rather than from feel. Screen-time reports broken down by app, the hours you were online driving as a share of waking hours, or a representative sample period documented properly are all defensible starting points.
Can I deduct the cost of the phone itself?
The business-use share of the cost, subject to the rules that apply to business property. How it is treated depends on cost and on which elections apply, which is a question worth asking a tax professional rather than guessing.
Is a second phone fully deductible?
A phone used exclusively for the business, with no personal use, is a much cleaner claim than a percentage of a shared phone. Exclusive means exclusive, and a second phone that also holds your personal messages is not.
What about accessories?
Mounts, chargers, cables, power banks and cases bought for the work are deductible, in the business-use share where they are shared. These are small individually and add up across a year.
Is a phone deduction risky?
The deduction is ordinary. What draws questions is a high percentage with nothing behind it. A documented basis makes 60 percent unremarkable, and no basis makes 90 percent a problem.
MileTruth. “Your phone: what is deductible, and how to defend the percentage.” Baker Ventures LLC, September 7, 2026. https://miletruth.bakerventuresstudio.com/answers/deducting-your-phone-and-plan-as-a-gig-driver/