Why there's no easy answer
If you drive for Uber, deliver for DoorDash, or pick up shifts through any app, you've probably typed "how much will I get back in taxes" into a search bar. The honest answer: it depends, and for a lot of gig workers, the number might be a lot smaller than they hope — or you might even owe money instead.
That's because gig work taxes don't work the same way as a regular paycheck. Understanding why can save you from a bad surprise in April.
Why gig workers aren't guaranteed a refund
When you work a W-2 job, your employer takes taxes out of every paycheck automatically. If they take out too much, you get a refund. If you're a 1099 gig worker, nobody is withholding anything for you.
That means your "refund" isn't really a refund in the traditional sense — it's what's left over if you paid more through quarterly estimated payments than you actually owed. If you didn't make estimated payments, or didn't set enough aside, you could end up writing a check to the IRS instead.
On top of income tax, gig workers owe self-employment tax. The self-employment tax rate is 15.3%, consisting of 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare. This exists because when you work for an employer, the company withholds income tax from your paycheck and pays half of your Social Security and Medicare taxes, but when you work for yourself, you are responsible for both halves — a combined self-employment tax rate of 15.3% on top of your regular income tax.
This tax kicks in fast. If you expect to owe $1,000 or more, quarterly estimated payments are required, and you may owe taxes even if you earned relatively little — the threshold is $400 in net self-employment income.
The two things that shrink your tax bill
The good news: your self-employment tax and income tax aren't calculated on your gross earnings. They're calculated on your net income — what's left after business deductions, which you report on Schedule C. The more legitimate expenses you track, the smaller that number gets, which shrinks both your income tax and your self-employment tax at the same time.
Which deductions matter most?
A few deductions matter most:
Mileage or vehicle expenses. If you drive for deliveries or rideshare, this is usually the single biggest deduction available.
Phone, supplies, and gear. Cleaning products, delivery bags, tools, software subscriptions, and insulated carriers for food deliveries count as business expenses.
The standard deduction. Even after your business expenses are subtracted on Schedule C, you still get to subtract the standard deduction from what's left. The 2026 standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers, $32,200 for married filing jointly, and $24,150 for head of household.
Half of your self-employment tax. You deduct 50% of SE tax from gross income before calculating income tax, and this deduction does not require itemizing.
The Qualified Business Income deduction. Many gig workers qualify for the QBI deduction, which allows eligible self-employed individuals to deduct up to 20% of their net business income from their taxable income — separate from regular business expense deductions.
Is there a deduction for tips?
There's also a newer deduction worth knowing about if you earn tips. A new deduction allows eligible gig economy workers to deduct up to $25,000 in qualified tips from their taxable income from tax year 2025 through 2028. Only workers who have Social Security numbers can deduct tips from their taxable income. How much this actually saves you depends on your income — for example, a tipped worker in the 24% tax bracket eligible for the maximum $25,000 tip deduction would save around $6,000 on their yearly tax bill, while people who earn less and are in a lower tax bracket would save less. (This is an illustrative example, not a prediction of your own savings.)
A simple way to walk through the math yourself
Nobody can hand you a single dollar figure without knowing your numbers, but here's the general order of operations the IRS uses, with made-up numbers just to show the shape of the math — this is an example only, not a prediction of what you'll owe or get back:
Add up your total gig income for the year.
Subtract your business expenses (mileage, supplies, phone, etc.) to get your net self-employment income.
Calculate self-employment tax on that net income — roughly 15.3%, though only 92.35% of your net earnings actually gets taxed at that rate.
Subtract half of that self-employment tax, the standard deduction, and any QBI or tip deduction you qualify for to get your taxable income.
Apply your income tax bracket to what's left.
Compare that total tax bill to what you already paid through quarterly estimated payments. The difference — plus or minus — is your refund or your bill.
What does this look like with real numbers?
For example, let's say someone nets $40,000 after expenses. They'd owe self-employment tax on that amount, then subtract deductions before income tax applies. If they'd been sending in estimated payments all year that covered their real tax bill, they'd get back only the overage — if they hadn't paid anything in, they could owe the full amount at once. That's why the "refund" question really depends on how well you tracked expenses and paid in throughout the year, not just how much you earned.
The takeaway
There's no shortcut number for "how much gig workers get back." It's the result of your income, your deductions, and how much you already paid in. The best move isn't guessing at tax time — it's tracking expenses and income as you go, so whatever the math says in April, it isn't a shock.
If you want to see this math worked out step by step with real numbers from your own year, a tax professional or IRS-approved software can run the actual calculation for your situation.