Hey, I'm full time student in Newy and I'm thinking of generating some more income. I am considering jumping on the Uber gravy train. Has anyone done it? What's your experience? Iv got comprehensive insurance. Do I need to let my insurance provider know that I'm now a hire car?
why the negs?
Just remember if you get into an accident whilst providing your Uber service you will not be covered by any comprehensive insurance unless you declare that you are using your vehicle for business services which include people transportation.
i was speaking to a taxi driver last night and he explained how he and his mate compared uber vs taxi driving.
over a 5 night period they compared incomes .
Taxi dude ended up with $1200
Uber dude ended up with $1500
Taxi dude didn't have to pay for petrol and it wasn't his car.
Uber dude had to pay for petrol ($200) and it was his car.
Taxi dude was covered by insurance for himself and passengers.
Uber dude wasn't covered for his passengers.
If taxi dudes taxi broke down then the taxi company would take care of everything.
If uber dudes uber broke down then it comes out of his pocket.
If taxi dude is attacked by some asshole then he presses his panic button for 3 seconds which alerts otheer taxi drivers and police.
If uber dude is attacked by some asshole then he is on his own.
rego on a taxi is huge (paid for by taxi company)
rego on an uber is normal price
car insurance on a taxi is huge (paid for by taxi company -but taxi driver has to pay $8 per day)
car insurance on an uber is normal price but you have to check your insurance policy to see if your vehicle is insured whilst you are driving as an uber.
Elllo,
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE:
So I'm an Uber Driver (3 weeks? so far)
Lovingggggg itttt
You can make a lot of money doing uber in your free time. I bring my laptop with me, so inbetween trips I do work etc.
If you fulfill the guaranteed conditions, you can make $30 an hour no matter what (just make sure you fulfill the actual specs).
INSURANCE & TAX:
You don't want to be telling your insurance company that you're using your car for Uber unless you want to start paying Business Comprehensive insurance which is a shit ton more. Uber have a comprehensive insurance which apparently covers everything if anything occurs but they've never actually shown proof of this to the best of my knowledge, but at the same time it could be understandable because whichever insurance company is doing this, is evidently going against what the Laws of Australia deem applicable, since Uber is considered technically illegal.
To fulfill your Tax obligations you SHOULD apply for an ABN and GST rego, you must then note though that you'll have to fulfill the separate obligations of filling in a BAS statement (Business Activity Statement) each quarter on top of your yearly Income statement. Because the operation is so small you are only charged at Individual tax rates, however as mentioned it is up to you to fulfill the conditions due to the fact that Uber don't pay Tax on your behalf and don't take down your TFN.
So practically you could get away it…until the ATO come knocking 4 years down the track and want their money back.
Uber V.S. Taxi:
What altomic has noted above is correct, but counter arguments can be made to all of those statements:
Uber dude wasn't covered for his passengers. —- Incorrect due to Uber's insurance policy, as well as the fact that your new passengers could easily be your new friends and no one needs to know any better…if you know what I mean.
If uber dudes uber broke down then it comes out of his pocket. —- Sure…but you must have a road worthy car to drive for Uber and the car must be no older than 2006. If you fulfill these conditions and have comprehensive insurance then you generally are ok and if anything occurs well then you're out of luck.
If uber dude is attacked by some asshole then he is on his own —- There is close to no reason for this to occur…the reason why I can say this with confidence is because of the way Uber transactions occur and the rating system is utilised. Taxi drivers are attacked generally because passengers don't want to pay for their rides…with Uber, this is impossible because everything is sorted before passengers even get in…they HAVE to have a valid Credit Card and if there are any issues Uber is more than happy to correct fares and talk to both sides to fix any disagreements.
The other side of the story is the rating system. As a driver you CANNOT drop below 4.6/5, if you do you get called by Uber and they essentially say…WTF? And if the same problems keep occurring, you'll get dropped by the system. The same happens for clients of Uber. Everyone gets rated, not just the drivers. So if a rider gets grumpy the driver can give him a 1 star rating and before long Uber won't let him use the system anymore.
Another slightly odd way to look at the Uber clientele at the moment is the fact that ppl who use it in Australia can still be classified as 'early adopters', and thus they 95/100 times very very well behaved.
rego on a taxi is huge (paid for by taxi company) —- and then the Taxi Driver has to pay the rent fees…
rego on an uber is normal price —- and he can do what he likes.
Anyways I got tired pretty much as soon as I started writing this so forgive lazyness and the lack of expansion on most of these points…my conclusion is Uber if you have the car and time too, I absolutely LOVE IT. 50% of my trips I meet new and interesting ppl and have great conversations and I get paid???!? the other 50% the ppl treat me like a private driver and just sit quietly in the back or talk to their friends…and I get paid!?! haha, you get my point :P
Mate can you elaborate more about tax system while driving with uber ? Whats the advantage of paying tax when you can get away with so easily.I got the ABN under my name and i am clueless as how to proceed further
See below.
Advantage? Ha! There will never be an advantage to paying Tax…unless of course Uber was your full time job and then you (thanks to Mr Hockey!) wrote off all your tax by reinvesting all your tax paid into say a new car or something…but anyway that is me getting off track…
The reason why I note to do it is because the ATO has the legal right to ask you for all proof of tax related issues for 5 years…if they randomly choose you and your tax has added up to let's say $xxxx.xx and you can't pay it?
Then you'll first get slapped with a heavy fine of $xx,xxx.xx and of course still have to pay the original amount.
Also they'll keep you under watch for the following year etc.
Is it worth it? If uber is a side job then sure…if it isn't and you treat it as your main source of income, then definitely not. Having to cough up 10s of thousands of $$ is painful for anyone.
Sorry to hijak the post, I have few questions for mglanville92 or any one who is driving for Ubar…..
Mate, I got few question for you, I just sold my 2005 model car. In the market now for a car for Uber!
Which car you drive, or you suggest good for Uber? and Which mobile plan/phone you use when you working (uber)? Sorry to ask questions … which suburbs you drive so far? I am thinking to join Uber ….
Thanks in Advanced
You'll be wanting to get a 'newer' car, i.e. 2010+, that is in good condition, is road worthy, has 4 doors and can fit 5 ppl (including yourself) comfortably. <—- Basic requirements of being an UberX car.
On top of that you'll be wanting a car that has as low a Litres per KM ratio as possible, because your main expense as an Uber driver is that of petrol.
I drive in Sydney pretty much everywhere, the Eastern Suburbs are where most of the Surge Pricing is, but to be honest, hunting after surge pricing is kind of pointless because you burn up petrol doing this, the best method (going off my experience) is to get as central (close to the city as possible) find a good parking spot and then to switch off your car so that you aren't burning up fuel.
Good luck with it!
Thanks for your info. Bad news for NSW ….
(Task force to look at Uber and taxi industry in NSW)
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/task-fo…
Let's see what happens …
i also want to drive with my 2006 mitsubhishi lancer for extra money i am in perth what type of registration of car needed for driving and whats gd insurance policy for cover both car and myself any best advice and what wil i needed abn ? and do i have to let w.a dept of transport know about my car as uber.? will this all be worth if i drive 25 hours a week.?thanks it will be helpful to make decision.
Hope this helps.
Hey guys, I have considered joining a a driver also.
Will the account very shut down due to inactivity? Let's say a driver goes on holidays for a month, will the account be closed by the time the driver is back?
Also, does Uber come and inspect the car to ensure it is road worthy? Or is this up to the driver to ensure that the car is road worthy?
I'm assuming that the drivers would need to use their app to get the clients, is the app data hungry?
Sorry if these questions seem pointless, but the Uber website doesn't say.
Thanks guys :)
seen many drivers are driving around perth city earning 20 to 25$ an hour seems happy with job. but i m waiying for court results. also receiving text from them saying drivers are making 1000$ weekly.
from what I know, you need to have the taxi license (whichever is equivalent depending on the state) in order to legally do Uber. I've seen some news reports of taxi federation catching unlicensed Uber drivers :S