And yet people still do it. I guess the drivers still find it useful, if they didn't, why would they continue driving?
Uber, Lyft Drivers Earning a Median Profit of $3.37 per Hour, Study Says
141–150 of 224 posts
Re: Uber, Lyft Drivers Earning a Median Profit of $3.37 per Hour, Study Says
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
No. An individual who is the sole director, sole shareholder, and provides all of the services in an S-Corp will have any distributions classified as compensation subject to payroll taxes. There is a lot of established law on this subject.
This is false. Any income in an S-corp that isn't paid via wages is not subject to FICA and Medicare, regardless of number of shareholders. That's a big reason why so many LLCs choose to classify themselves as S-corps. There are (or were, at least, before the latest tax bill) significant tax benefits to doing so. It doesn't matter how many shareholders there are, since an S-corp is not a disregarded entity, like a si…
I don't know why you're getting downvoted. The single member S-Corp is a very common setup for individual freelancers/consultants precisely for this reason. FICA taxes aren't paid on distributions.
To do this, the single member has to pay themselves a "reasonable salary", but there aren't strict guidelines on this. It's a gray area, and some people push it (and lose), but it's a very common setup.
Re: Uber, Lyft Drivers Earning a Median Profit of $3.37 per Hour, Study Says
#143Discussing a rideshare worker's take-home pay as "profit" really accepts the framing of the company. Yes it's technically true that each driver is an independent contractor ("Small Business Owner"), but this designation is a farce without the ability to set pricing. The take-home pay isn't profit in practice, it's wages less unreimbursed expenses.
Let’s say I’m a dry wall contractor. A general contractor comes along and offers me $20k for a job. I say “$25k?” and he says, “No, $20k.” If I take the job I am not magically transformed into an employee of his, simply because I lacked the bargaining power to negotiate the rate. The reason I am still a contractor is that I have absolute control over whether to agree to do that job at that price. There are obviously…
Except Uber & Lyft will punish you if you turn down too many jobs. That doesn't sound like absolute control.
And you never got the opportunity to try and negotiate with either company to start with.
Re: Uber, Lyft Drivers Earning a Median Profit of $3.37 per Hour, Study Says
#144The problem isn't the profit, but that there are a number of people using this as one of their primary income sources. I'm not sure how Uber et. al was originally promoted to drivers, but I've originally seen it as something like "I'm heading home from work, let me turn on my uber app and see if anyone around me needs a ride going in that direction". Or, "I feel like riding around tonight, no particular place to go,…
I've never heard it be offered as that, and I've never heard anyone use it like that. For one, Uber doesn't know where you're going, so how would they know that the person who just hailed an Uber is going in that direction?
Re: Uber, Lyft Drivers Earning a Median Profit of $3.37 per Hour, Study Says
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
Let’s say I’m a dry wall contractor. A general contractor comes along and offers me $20k for a job. I say “$25k?” and he says, “No, $20k.” If I take the job I am not magically transformed into an employee of his, simply because I lacked the bargaining power to negotiate the rate. The reason I am still a contractor is that I have absolute control over whether to agree to do that job at that price. There are obviously…
I don't know about the U.S. but in Australia there are strict rules about 'sham contracting'. To be treated as an independent contractor you can't get more than 80% of your income from any one source. If you 'contract' to just one employer you're an employee for both tax purposes and protections.
> If you 'contract' to just one employer you're an employee for both tax purposes and protections.
That's not the case in the US. Our laws bar the contractor from having set hours, a set place of work, and a myriad of other rules. So if a contractor comes in 9 to 5 and has his own desk, he'll be classified as an employee. Honestly, I would prefer a similar % rule, that seems simpler and I think would accomplish the intent far better than what we have now.
Re: Uber, Lyft Drivers Earning a Median Profit of $3.37 per Hour, Study Says
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
> see if anyone around me needs a ride going in that direction Do they allow you to set a destination area so that your fares are limited to this, or do you just get to review and accept fares so you can choose ones in the right direction? I wasn't aware it could be used to just pick up someone going the same direction. I can see something like that doing very well, but I can also see how Uber might want to brand it…
Drivers have the ability to set an end-destination so their last ride is near there ultimate destination. Source: I asked an Uber driver about this a few months ago.
That is very recent, however. In the beginning, there was no such thing.
Re: Uber, Lyft Drivers Earning a Median Profit of $3.37 per Hour, Study Says
#147Uber, Lyft, and Juno only exist because the Taxi apps are bad or non-existent. If there was a Taxi app that worked exactly like these 3 apps, and not just for hailing taxis, then there would be no need for this.
Re: Uber, Lyft Drivers Earning a Median Profit of $3.37 per Hour, Study Says
#148And yet people still do it. I guess the drivers still find it useful, if they didn't, why would they continue driving?
Because they have literally no other choice? When your choice is to lose money driving for Uber, or starve, you kinda lose the ability to stop if you don't find it "useful".
Re: Uber, Lyft Drivers Earning a Median Profit of $3.37 per Hour, Study Says
#149In speaking with various drivers I've had I either hear that driving for [Lyft|Uber] is great, or terrible. There's rarely any in between. I've had drivers who had worked with them for years, and seemed to be really happy, also new ones who were happy. Perhaps they have lower living expenses, or this is more pay than they made at other ventures, or uniquely fits their lives. And I've had others who are really frustra…
I've ran into very similar feedback and I survey just about every Uber/Lyft I ride in.
Re: Uber, Lyft Drivers Earning a Median Profit of $3.37 per Hour, Study Says
#150What is the incentive to drive for one of these services at that price point? Couldn't these people make more money (and not have to replace their car in five years) flipping burgers or the like? Are drivers misled into believing they will make more? Is the cost per mile intentionally hidden from them?
"Are drivers misled into believing they will make more? Is the cost per mile intentionally hidden from them?"
They absolutely are. I know someone who ended up signing one of those rental car leases with Lyft to become a driver. The numbers the company provided made it seem like it would be quite easy to pay off each week. As it turns out, it was just like the old "company store".