Year-End Tax Packet for TLC Drivers: What to Download

In January, collect four groups of papers: the IRS forms companies send you, the yearly summaries you must download yourself, the lease or rental receipts your fleet owes you, and your own logs. Most of it is due to you by January 31. Download app and fleet records early. The companies only have to keep some of them for a limited time, and the New York State Tax Department can ask for them later.

This page is a checklist for the 2026 tax year (filed in 2027). It explains which records exist and where the rules for them come from. It is not tax advice, and it does not tell you what to put on your return.

The packet at a glance

Forms that should arrive by January 31

Form 1099-K. Payment apps and online platforms, including ride-hailing platforms, must send you a 1099-K when payments for services are over $20,000 in more than 200 transactions. They may send one for less. A card processor that pays you directly for card payments sends one no matter how many payments or how much. Your copy is due by January 31 (IRS: Understanding your Form 1099-K; due-date chart in IRS Publication 1099).

Form 1099-NEC. For tax years beginning after 2025, the reporting threshold is $2,000, and it may be adjusted for inflation starting in 2027. Payers must furnish the form and file it with the IRS by January 31. If a due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, it moves to the next business day (IRS 1099-MISC/NEC instructions, Rev. Dec. 2026). January 31, 2027 is a Sunday.

No form does not mean no tax. See do I pay taxes on Uber income without a 1099?

Records the apps must give you (app drivers)

TLC Chapter 59 gives app drivers papers that ordinary gig workers don't get:

• With a 1099-K: if a High-Volume For-Hire Service (Uber, Lyft) must give you a 1099-K, it must also give you the total mileage for the trips the form covers and an itemization of the items deducted from the gross amount on the form (§59B-18(f)(7)). The 1099-K gross amount can be larger than what was paid out to you. This list explains the difference.
• Earnings receipts: for every payment or deduction, the base must give a written receipt. Earnings receipts must include what passengers paid and the per-trip minutes and miles you were paid for (§59B-18(f)(5)).

Then download the yearly summary. NYS asks Uber drivers for the Uber Tax Summary and all Forms 1099-K and 1099-MISC, Lyft drivers for the year-end statement and all 1099-K and 1099-MISC, and other app drivers for the year-end summary and any 1099-MISC (NYS Tax checklist).

Download now. App companies must keep trip records for only 18 months (§59D-14(b)(3)). Bases must keep driver agreements and itemized earnings for three years after the agreement ends or the last trip, whichever is later (§59B-18(f)(6)). The IRS can ask about a return for longer than that, so save PDFs in your own folder.

Lease, rental and fleet receipts

Sources: TLC Chapter 58, TLC Chapter 59.

If you rent your car or lease a cab, these receipts and the lease are your proof of your biggest cost. NYS lists "any lease agreement that was in effect for the tax year" and a driver pay report, including a statement showing what the leasing agent took out of your credit transactions. If you claim depreciation, insurance or repairs, NYS also wants a registration or insurance card showing you own the car, or a lease making you responsible for those costs (NYS Tax). If a receipt is missing, ask in writing. The rules above set fines for a company that does not give receipts. Taxi drivers: see taxes for NYC taxi drivers for card payouts and cash logs.

Your own records

Mileage log. For 2026 you need two totals: business miles from January 1 to June 30 (72.5¢ a mile) and from July 1 to December 31 (76¢ a mile). These rates are from the IRS standard mileage rates page, checked 2026-10-12. The TLC rule only makes the app give the mileage "for trips covered by the Form 1099-K." Your own log should also record miles you drove to pickups and between trips. Write your odometer reading on December 31 so next year starts clean. Run both car methods in the tax deduction estimator.

Tolls and parking. Keep your E-ZPass statements and parking receipts. Mark the tolls you were paid back for. The app or passenger may have reimbursed them, and you should not count a toll as your cost while leaving out the money you got back for it.

Estimated tax payments. Keep the confirmation number, date and amount of every payment. For 2026, NYS lists installments on April 15, June 15 and September 15, 2026 and January 15, 2027 (NYS Tax). Your preparer needs each payment to credit it on your return. More: quarterly estimated taxes.

Bank statements. NYS says expense proof (invoices, receipts, bank statements) must cover at least six months of the year (NYS Tax).

Summonses and tickets. Keep TLC summonses in a separate folder for hearings (documents for a TLC hearing). Don't put them in the tax packet: NYS lists tickets or summons as not deductible.

A January–April calendar

How long to keep it all

The IRS says to keep records that support your return until the period of limitations runs out (IRS: How long should I keep records?):

• 3 years after filing in most cases.
• 6 years if you did not report income that is more than 25% of the gross income on your return.
• With no time limit if you did not file a return or filed a fraudulent one.
• Car records: keep records about property, such as a car you depreciate, until the period of limitations ends for the year you sell or dispose of it.

Bases and lessors keep their copies for three years after the agreement ends, and app trip records only have to be kept 18 months. Your own copy is the one that matters. Keep a phone photo and a cloud copy of each year's packet.

If NYS sends a letter asking for proof, the packet above lines up with its list. See the NYS tax letter checklist. For the rest of the tax topics, start at the taxes hub.