Rideshare, delivery and platform income: tax guide

Start with the type of work you do

Driving for a platform is self-employment for tax purposes, whether it is a full-time job or a side activity. The CRA’s guidance for commercial ridesharing and delivery services says you must report all of your income, including tips, on your income tax return. That applies to fares and tips alike, however the platform pays you.

The type of work matters most for GST/HST. Ridesharing is treated differently from delivery, and a driver who does both has to think about the two together. Sort out which of these describes you before anything else, because the registration answer follows from it.

Rideshare drivers: register for GST/HST from the first fare

The CRA states that taxi operators and commercial ride-sharing drivers who supply taxable passenger transportation must register for a GST/HST account even if they are small suppliers. In its tax tip on ridesharing and delivery, the CRA says drivers must register the moment they start earning money from commercial ridesharing services. The usual $30,000 small supplier threshold does not apply to these fares, so there is no safe earnings level below which you can wait.

Fares generally already include the tax. To find the GST/HST inside a fare, the CRA gives a simple formula: multiply the fare by the tax rate and divide by 100 plus the rate. In Ontario the HST rate is 13%, so on an illustrative fare of $113 the tax portion is $13. Your return reports the tax you collected, and you may claim input tax credits for GST/HST you paid on expenses used for the ridesharing business, such as fuel, repairs and vehicle costs. The CRA notes that insurance and interest carry no GST/HST, so there is nothing to claim on them, and that most business purchases cannot be claimed if you use the quick method to calculate net tax. Ask your accountant which method suits you before your first return.

A temporary SIN that starts with 9 changes how you register: the CRA directs those individuals to Business Registration Online. If you started driving and did not register, do not wait for a letter. The CRA lists voluntary correction options, including adjusting a GST/HST return and the Voluntary Disclosures Program, which may reduce penalties and interest if the application is accepted.

Delivery and other gig work: the small supplier threshold

For delivery-only work the CRA’s tip says you generally need to register, collect and remit once you exceed the small supplier threshold of $30,000 over four calendar quarters. You may also register voluntarily below that level, which can make sense if you have significant GST/HST costs you would like to recover through input tax credits. Registering also means you must collect and remit the tax going forward, so weigh both sides.

If you drive for a rideshare platform and also do delivery or other taxable work, you must be registered for the ridesharing fares. The CRA says you may extend that registration to your other activities while combined taxable sales stay at or below $30,000, and once the threshold is exceeded you must collect and remit on all taxable sales. Input tax credits on the other activities are available only if registration is extended to them or the threshold is exceeded. Our guide on GST/HST registration questions and the HST registration checker cover the threshold in more detail.

Report the income and expenses on Form T2125

Business income and expenses go on Form T2125, which the CRA describes as the form for reporting business or professional income and expenses. Report gross platform earnings and tips as income, and claim the costs of earning that income as expenses. The CRA says self-employed drivers may deduct platform fees kept for administration and maintenance, plus other goods and services bought to earn income. Because platform statements often show net payouts, reconcile each statement to your deposits so that fees appear as expenses and income is not understated.

Drivers who do both ridesharing and delivery report the income from both and may claim the expenses from both. For a self-employed return that includes business income, the filing and payment dates for 2026 are in our deadlines guide: payment of any balance is generally due April 30, 2027, and most self-employed returns are due June 15, 2027. If you are a registered GST/HST filer, your GST/HST return follows its own reporting period.

Vehicle and phone expenses

The CRA allows you to deduct expenses to run a motor vehicle you use to earn business income, and the amount is worked out in the motor vehicle section of the form. Only the business portion is deductible, and that is the share of total kilometres driven that were for earning income. Keep a log of each business trip with the date, destination, purpose and kilometres, plus the total kilometres driven and the odometer reading at the start and end of the fiscal period.

After a full 12-month base-year logbook, the CRA permits a three-month sample logbook in later years if your usage stays within about 10% of the base year. Expenses must be reasonable and supported by receipts. A phone plan used for both personal and driving purposes follows the same idea: claim only the business share, and keep the bill and a note explaining how you split it. Whether a vehicle should be leased or owned, and how capital cost allowance applies, depends on your situation and is worth discussing before you buy.

Platform reporting and your records

Under the CRA’s reporting rules for digital platform operators, platforms report seller information to the CRA, including identity details and quarterly totals for payments, number of transactions and fees. The platform must give you a copy of what it reports by the same January 31 deadline that applies to its filing; the first reporting year was 2024. If a platform asks for your tax identification number, give it: the CRA may assess a $500 penalty for each failure to provide one, with limited exceptions. These rules do not change your obligation to report all income, so treat the platform’s figures as a cross-check rather than the starting point.

The CRA says it is essential to keep organized books and records. Generally, records are kept for six years from the end of the tax year to which they relate. Save monthly platform statements, fuel and repair receipts, the logbook, GST/HST filings and proof of payment, and consider a simple bookkeeping system so that nothing depends on a platform app staying available. An accountant can reconcile your statements to the T2125 and the GST/HST return before you file.