Deliveroo Tax Calculator
Deliveroo left Australia in November 2022, so this is a food delivery and rideshare tax estimator for Australian couriers on Uber Eats, DoorDash, Menulog and Amazon Flex. Former Deliveroo riders with unlodged years can use it too.
Gross earnings before platform fees and expenses.
Wages or salary taxed through PAYG. This pushes your gig income into a higher bracket.
The cents-per-kilometre method for 2025-26 is 88 cents per kilometre and is capped at 5,000 business kilometres per car per year, so the maximum claim under this method is $4,400. That rate changes almost every year, so check the current figure before lodging. If you drive more than 5,000 work kilometres you are almost certainly better off with a logbook, which has no cap.
Set money aside as you earn rather than at tax time. A safe habit for most delivery couriers is putting 20 to 30 percent of every payout into a separate account, since nothing is withheld from your gig earnings the way PAYG is withheld from a wage.
Once you lodge a return with business income, the ATO will usually put you onto PAYG instalments, meaning quarterly prepayments of next year's tax. That first year where you pay last year's bill and this year's instalments in the same period catches a lot of people out.
💰 Ways to save
- Keep a proper logbook for twelve continuous weeks in your first year of driving. That single exercise sets a business-use percentage you can then apply for five years, and it almost always beats the cents-per-kilometre method for anyone doing serious hours. Cents per kilometre caps out at $4,400 a year, while a logbook lets you claim the work portion of fuel, insurance, registration, servicing, tyres and depreciation with no ceiling.
- Track the deductions couriers routinely forget. Mobile phone and data at your work-use percentage, insulated delivery bags, phone mounts and chargers, parking and tolls incurred while working, bike servicing and batteries, and even the portion of your accountant's fee that relates to preparing the business schedule are all legitimately claimable. Across a year of full-time delivery these commonly add up to $800 to $2,000 that goes unclaimed.
- Do not register for GST voluntarily unless you have run the numbers. Below $75,000 turnover, delivery-only couriers are not required to register, and registering means lodging a BAS every quarter and remitting one eleventh of your gross fares. The credits you claim back on fuel and vehicle costs rarely offset that on delivery-only income, though the answer changes if you also do passenger rideshare or plan to buy a vehicle.
- Use the ATO myDeductions tool in the ATO app or a simple spreadsheet from the first shift rather than reconstructing the year in July. The ATO receives data directly from the delivery platforms through the sharing economy reporting regime, so your income figures are already known to them. Matching those against clean, contemporaneous expense records is what turns an anxious lodgement into a five minute one.
or from $24/week over 5 years , indicative finance
Run a accountant or adviser? Put a calculator like this on your own website, branded as yours.See how →How we estimate this
## What happened to Deliveroo in Australia
Pricing reviewed: June 2026.
Are you a accountant or adviser?
Put this calculator on your own website, branded to you, visitors get an instant estimate, you get a qualified enquiry with their details.
Understanding deliveroo taxs in Australia
What happened to Deliveroo in Australia
Deliveroo ceased operating in Australia in November 2022, entering voluntary administration and shutting its local platform with very little notice to the thousands of riders who worked on it. If you are searching for a Deliveroo tax calculator in 2026, you are most likely either working for one of the platforms that absorbed that market, or you have unlodged returns from the years you rode for Deliveroo.
Both situations still need attention. If you earned income through Deliveroo in the 2020, 2021, 2022 or 2023 financial years and never lodged, that obligation has not gone away just because the company left. The ATO holds the platform's reported income data, failure to lodge attracts penalty units per 28 day period, and it is far better to lodge late voluntarily than to be prompted. A registered tax agent can lodge prior year returns, and many riders find they are owed a refund once deductions are applied.
Who this estimator is for now
For everyone currently delivering, the tax treatment is essentially identical across platforms. Uber Eats, DoorDash, Menulog, Amazon Flex and the smaller local services all pay you as an independent contractor rather than an employee. That means no tax is withheld from your payouts, no superannuation is paid on your behalf, and you are responsible for reporting the income and paying the tax yourself. You need an ABN, which is free to apply for through the Australian Business Register.
The income goes into the business section of your tax return, not the salary section, and you claim your expenses against it. What you pay tax on is the profit, not the gross fares.
The GST rule that catches couriers out
This is the single most misunderstood point in gig tax. There is a special rule requiring anyone providing taxi travel, which includes ridesharing passengers for a fare, to register for GST from the very first dollar earned regardless of turnover. Uber and DiDi drivers carrying passengers are caught by it.
Delivering food is not taxi travel. Delivery-only couriers fall under the ordinary rule, which means you only need to register for GST once your business turnover reaches $75,000 in a financial year. Below that, registration is optional and usually not worth it, because you would have to remit one eleventh of your gross earnings and lodge a BAS every quarter for input tax credits that rarely make up the difference.
The trap is doing both. If you carry passengers as well as food, the passenger work forces registration from dollar one, and once registered you report all your business income through the same BAS, delivery included.
Claiming vehicle costs correctly
Vehicle expenses are the largest deduction for most couriers, and there are two methods for cars. The cents-per-kilometre method for the 2025-26 year is 88 cents per kilometre, capped at 5,000 business kilometres per car, giving a maximum claim of $4,400. It requires no receipts, only a reasonable basis for the kilometres claimed. That rate is reviewed and usually changes annually, so confirm the current figure before you lodge.
The logbook method has no cap. You keep a logbook for twelve continuous weeks to establish a work-use percentage, then apply that percentage to your actual running costs including fuel, insurance, registration, servicing, tyres, interest on a car loan and depreciation. For anyone driving more than about 5,000 work kilometres a year, the logbook wins comfortably, often by thousands of dollars. The twelve week record then stays valid for five years.
Bicycle, e-bike and motorbike riders cannot use cents per kilometre at all, because it is a car-only method. Riders claim actual costs at their work-use percentage instead, covering the bike itself (depreciated if it cost more than $300), servicing, batteries, tyres, helmet, insurance and phone.
Records, PAYG instalments and what else to expect
The delivery platforms report your earnings to the ATO under the sharing economy reporting regime, so your income is already known before you lodge. Keep your own records anyway, because the deductions are the part only you can evidence. Records must generally be kept for five years, and the ATO myDeductions tool inside the ATO app is a perfectly adequate way to do it.
After your first return with business income, expect to be placed on PAYG instalments, which are quarterly prepayments toward the following year's tax. The first year of that transition is uncomfortable because you settle last year's bill and start prepaying this year's at roughly the same time. Setting aside 20 to 30 percent of every payout as you earn it is the simplest defence.
A worked example
Take a courier earning $32,000 from food delivery with no other income, driving a car for 9,000 work kilometres. On cents per kilometre they claim the capped $4,400. With a logbook showing 60 percent work use on $11,000 of annual running costs, they claim $6,600, plus phone and equipment of roughly $700, so about $7,300. That $2,900 difference in deductions is real money at their marginal rate. They stay under the $75,000 threshold so no GST registration is required, they lodge a business schedule with their return, and they should expect PAYG instalments to begin afterwards. Use the estimator above as a set-aside guide only, then have a registered tax agent confirm the actual position.
Frequently asked questions
Does Deliveroo still operate in Australia?
No. Deliveroo ceased Australian operations in November 2022 and entered voluntary administration. Couriers now work through Uber Eats, DoorDash, Menulog, Amazon Flex and smaller local platforms, and the tax treatment is effectively the same across all of them.
I rode for Deliveroo and never lodged. What now?
You still need to lodge for those years. The ATO holds the income data reported by the platform, failure to lodge attracts penalties per 28 day period, and lodging voluntarily is treated far better than being prompted. A registered tax agent can lodge prior year returns, and many former riders end up with a refund once deductions are applied.
Do food delivery couriers have to register for GST?
Only once turnover reaches $75,000 in a financial year. Food delivery is not taxi travel, so the rule forcing rideshare passenger drivers to register from the first dollar does not apply. If you also carry passengers, that work forces registration and then all your business income, delivery included, goes through the same BAS.
What is the cents-per-kilometre rate for delivery drivers?
For 2025-26 it is 88 cents per kilometre, capped at 5,000 business kilometres per car, so a maximum claim of $4,400. The rate is reviewed annually and usually changes, so confirm the current figure. It is a car-only method, so bicycle, e-bike and motorbike riders cannot use it.
Is a logbook better than cents per kilometre?
For most people driving more than about 5,000 work kilometres a year, yes, often by thousands of dollars. A twelve week logbook establishes a work-use percentage valid for five years, which you apply to actual fuel, insurance, registration, servicing, tyres and depreciation with no cap.
How much tax should I set aside from delivery income, and do I need an ABN?
Set aside twenty to thirty percent of each payout, because nothing is withheld from gig earnings. You do need an ABN, which is free through the Australian Business Register, since platforms engage you as a contractor. Expect PAYG instalments after your first business return, meaning you settle last year's bill and prepay this year's in the same period.
Run a accountant or adviser? Add this deliveroo tax calculator to your own website →