Can rideshare and food delivery be on the same Schedule C?

[taxes96786]

I say 2 Sch C...they are not even remotely related businesses

[rbynaker]

If it's the same vehicle used for both I would put them on one Schedule C.  Give the business a Russian sounding name like Pikup Andropov.

[rcooley25]

Defiantly one schedule C.  Whether it is Food Delivery or ride sharing it is the same business. As a former Uber Driver there were times I would get a call for Uber Eats. 

[Terry53029]

They have different activity codes 49200 for delivery drivers, and 485300 for ridesharing. I would use two schedules C

[Skylane]

If done correctly, the tax will be the same either way. Doesn’t really matter.

[dkh]

I'd complete one Schedule C using the business activity code for whichever had the highest gross income.

Same as I wouldn't use two Sched F  if farmer sold crops and cattle

[IRonMaN]

I would put them on 3 schedule Cs .................................. only because that answer hasn't been given yet. 😜   But in real life I would stick with one schedule C.  Why over complicate things because the next thing you are going to ask how do I break out the expenses between the two schedule Cs.  Keep it simple.  The IRS is going to get the same amount of money from the client either way so why complicate your life.

[rbynaker]

Yeah.  THE expense is mileage.  A friend of mine who does this will jump between jobs based on what's available.  People, take-out, groceries, whatever.  He even went through a certification process so now he can deliver wine and beer.  He has an app to track business mileage, might be too much of a stretch to get it broken down based on what's getting transported.  Bottom line, he gets paid to move X from point A to point B.

[BobKamman]

One Schedule C.  They are closely related work.  Uber and Uber Eats -- it's just the smell of what you're delivering, that's different.  

[taxes96786]

IRS says:

If you have multiple unrelated businesses organized as sole proprietorships, you generally should prepare separate Schedule C forms for each to report your business income or losses. 

Vehicle expenses are allocation by percentage of use by each business.

[taxes96786]

IMO that would not be due diligence and would not be following IRS rules.

[IRonMaN]

What due diligence?  The tax will come out exactly the same.  Exactly what crimes against humanity is the IRS going to charge someone with for using one schedule C for similar businesses?

[Skylane]

@IRonMaN do you remember Charlotte?

[IRonMaN]

If this an Alzheimer's test, I passed it because I remember Charlotte.

[garman22]

I would put on one Schedule C. They are both delivery. 

[BobKamman]

Personally, I would never pass up the opportunity to bill for two forms when there's any question about whether just one would work.  Due diligence starts with moving money from the client's pocket to your own.  Especially today, let's remember it's all about the green.  

[garman22]

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@BobKamman wrote:

Personally, I would never pass up the opportunity to bill for two forms when there's any question about whether just one would work.  Due diligence starts with moving money from the client's pocket to your own.  Especially today, let's remember it's all about the green.  

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I was about to argue.......but then sarcasm hit me like a ton of green bricks (money).............

[IRonMaN]

But sarcasm is no longer allowed here so everything posted is completely legit.  Didn't you get the memo?🤣

[BobKamman]

@garman22  Like having the roof collapse on you in a brick greenhouse?

[pamdory]

I would file one schedule C coded for delivery.  Food, groceries or people, it's still delivery.   The differences in the nature of the activities is not material and doesn't warrant the additional effort of separating them.  

Unless your client is tracking their trips by the character of their "freight", assigning vehicle expense proportional to gross receipts is more arbitrary than deciding to combine the two types of deliveries.  

The business activity codes are used by IRS as part of their audit project process.  I don't think they are going to conduct a project for one code and not include the other given the similarities of the issues.  

[BobKamman]

We don't know how IRS uses the business activity codes, or whether they use them at all.  It's more likely they are used only by their "Research, Applied Analytics and Statistics Division" to produce reports that are used by government and private economists, mostly to write papers read by other economists.  Don't give credit to IRS for having more ability, the lack of which they demonstrate every day.  

[pamdory]

You have a point @BobKamman about just how they use the business activity codes.  However it's been rumored that they may use them for audit screening.  I'm sure you're correct that the data is mostly used for statistical purposes.  All the more reason to not get wrapped up in splitting hairs.

[pamdory]

I did not get that memo. 

[taxes96786]

the due diligence would be in properly reporting the separate businesses. IRS would not have created separate business codes if they agreed that these businesses were related. The issue is not that the refund comes out the same. The issue is whether the return was done correctly.

[IRonMaN]

🙄

[garman22]

I also work for the client. I dont see the need for banging them on an extra charge for something that is so similar in nature. But go right ahead and file your separate C's. At the end of the day, you are not wrong either. 

[BobKamman]

IRS had nothing to do with the development of NAICS codes.  But never let the facts stand in the way of a losing argument. 

NAICS was developed under the auspices of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and adopted in 1997 to replace the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. It was developed jointly by the U.S. Economic Classification Policy Committee (ECPC), Statistics Canada, and Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia, to allow for a high level of comparability in business statistics among the North American countries.

https://www.census.gov/naics/

[taxes96786]

Clearly rideshare is transportation and food delivery is a delivery service. Just because you choose to put them both on one Sch C doesn't mean you are doing it correctly.

[IRonMaN]

This one has been kicked enough.  Surely somebody out there needs to be lectured about pub 17 or Intuit tutorials.