Do Yellow Taxi Drivers Get a 1099? What to Use Instead

Often no, and you don't need one to file. The 1099 forms are reports from whoever pays you. If you lease a yellow cab, TLC rules have the medallion owner or agent pay you your card money, not the card processor. So a 1099 may never come to you. For taxi income, its driver checklist asks for your "Verifone or CMT metered statement for the tax year", not a 1099 (NYS Tax). App drivers have their own page: will I get a 1099-K from Uber?

This is general information, not tax advice.

Who gets a 1099, and why cab drivers often don't

The IRS rules follow the money:

• Form 1099-K from a card processor: "If your customers or clients pay you directly by credit, debit or gift card, you'll get a Form 1099-K from your payment card processor no matter how many payments you got or how much they were for" (IRS). The key word is directly.
• Form 1099-K from a payment app or platform, including "car sharing or ride-hailing platform[s]": required when payments are over $20,000 in more than 200 transactions, and they may send one for less.
• Form 1099-NEC: a business files one for each person it paid at least $2,000 for services by a non-employee, for tax years beginning after 2025 (IRS 1099-MISC/NEC instructions).

In a leased cab, TLC rule §58-21(f) has the owner or agent pay you "the total amount of all non-cash payments," including e-payments through the technology system, minus the Taxicab Improvement Surcharge. Shift leases are paid daily; other leases at least weekly. The owner "must not withhold from the payments any credit card pass-along, fees or charges." If the owner is the taxpayer for the 50-cent MTA tax, §58-21 lets it take that tax out of your card money first (TLC Chapter 58). Who files which form, if any, depends on how your fleet and its technology provider set this up. This site has not confirmed one practice that covers all fleets. Ask your fleet or agent in January.

The 1099-K thresholds in more detail: Form 1099-K. The 1099-NEC: Form 1099-NEC.

What to use instead: your income records

If you can't get a statement, remember owners must keep records of "payments to drivers" and "drivers' electronic and written trip records" for three years (§58-24(c)). Ask in writing and keep a copy of the request.

Lease and expense records

NYS asks every driver for these expense documents: federal Schedule C, your driver license, any lease agreement in effect for the year, and a driver pay report, including a statement showing what the leasing agent took out of your credit transactions. Proof of expenses must cover at least six months (NYS Tax). The lease receipts under §58-21(g) must show the date, recipient, amount, purpose and the TLC rule section that allows each charge. That makes them good proof of your largest cost. What you can deduct, and how the gas surcharge and card fees fit in, is in taxes for NYC taxi drivers.

What to do next

1. In January, ask your fleet or agent whether any 1099 will be issued to you, and by whom.
2. Request the full-year meter statement and your payout receipts.
3. Total your cash fares and cash tips from your logs.
4. File on time even if no form comes. See do I pay taxes without a 1099?

More on the taxes hub.