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Why Uber's "on trip" kilometres cost you money

Uber reports on-trip kilometres only. Your real work driving is far higher, and using their figure can cost thousands in deductions.

Written by Tax Accountant Limited, chartered accountants and IRD registered tax agent. Figures checked 10 November 2026.

Uber gives you a kilometre figure on your annual tax summary. It looks official, it is easy to find, and using it as your work kilometres is one of the most expensive mistakes a driver can make.

What Uber is actually counting

"On trip" means exactly that: the distance travelled with a passenger in the car, or an order on board. The meter starts at pickup and stops at drop-off.

Here is what it leaves out:

All of that is work driving. None of it is in Uber's number.

On one real client the difference was about $13,651 of deductions. Not a rounding error. That is the gap between using the platform's figure and using the car's.

What Inland Revenue expects

The kilometre rate is applied to your business use of the vehicle, worked out from your total driving and a logbook showing what share of it was work. Two numbers do the job:

  1. Total kilometres for the year, from your odometer at the start and the end
  2. Your work share, from a logbook kept for at least 90 days

A logbook stays valid for three years, as long as your pattern of driving does not change much. Keep it once, use it three times.

And if you have no logbook

You are capped at the lesser of your actual business use or 25% of your running costs. For most full-time drivers that is dramatically less than the truth, which makes 90 days of record keeping some of the best-paid admin you will ever do.

What to do about it

Photograph your odometer on 1 April and again on 31 March. That is it. Two numbers, once a year, and they are worth more to your return than every fuel receipt you will ever keep.

The app keeps your odometer readings

Type the number off your dash and it is saved. We work out the rest when your return is due.

Get the app, it's free

Keep reading

Uber tax return NZWhat you owe and how the whole thing works. The 8.5% flat-rate creditMoney the platform already paid you. Behind on your returns?What happens, and how to put it right. Free tax calculatorSee what your kilometres are worth.

Common questions

Are Uber on-trip kilometres the same as business kilometres?

No. On-trip only counts the distance with a passenger or an order in the car. Driving to a pickup, repositioning between jobs and returning from a drop-off are all work driving too, and none of them appear in that figure.

How much difference does it make?

On one real client the gap was worth about $13,651 of deductions. The exact figure depends on how much time you spend between jobs, but on-trip is commonly well under half of total work driving.

What should I use instead?

Your odometer. Read it at the start and the end of the tax year, and keep a logbook for at least 90 days showing what share of that driving was work. That is what Inland Revenue expects and it reflects what you actually drove.