Uber proposes policy that would pay drivers a minimum wage of $21 per hour

Re:Uber proposes policy that would pay drivers a minimum wag... by rzimmerman on Thursday August 29, 2019 @01:47PM (#20831875)

To make it a fair comparison to full-time or even part-time work as an employee, I think you'd need to take into account the cost of car insurance, health insurance, having a car, car maintenance, gas, a smart phone + plan, time spent getting inspected, and other overhead. It's probably closer to ~$15/hr after all of that. I wouldn't be surprised if they derived $21 as California minimum wage + costs of driving.

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Re:Uber proposes policy that would pay drivers a minimum wag... by tmh79 on Thursday August 29, 2019 @02:07PM (#20832073)

I mean, its also essentially tax free money as you get a ~.50$ tax relief/mile driven, so IMO with all the costs you probably are equivalent or possibly better than a 21/hour job.

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Re:Uber proposes policy that would pay drivers a minimum wag... by papreclip on Thursday August 29, 2019 @02:33PM (#20832309)

Below ~$45k/yr, the actual income tax rate paid is zero or negative after filing for a return. These are the 47% of Americans that Mitt Romney correctly described as paying no income tax.

A $21/hr tax-free job minus driving costs is still equivalent to a $15/hr job. It's definitely not equivalent to a $21/hr job riding around in someone else's ambulance burning someone else's gas. And from what I'm seeing, residents make ~$60k/yr. That job is also a stepping stone to a much more lucrative profession.

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Re:Uber proposes policy that would pay drivers a minimum wag... by scarface74 on Thursday August 29, 2019 @04:55PM (#20833564)

Below ~$45k/yr, the actual income tax rate paid is zero or negative after filing for a return. These are the 47% of Americans that Mitt Romney correctly described as paying no income tax.

That’s only if you believe in the fairy tale that Social Security and Medicare taxes (close to 15% including the employer’s side) go into a separate account and that those taxes don’t go into the same bucket as regular tax revenues.

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Re:Uber proposes policy that would pay drivers a minimum wag... by cheriot on Thursday August 29, 2019 @04:48PM (#20833508)

Mitt Romney talking about only income tax is intentionally myopic. What's their total tax burden including payroll taxes?

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Re:Uber proposes policy that would pay drivers a minimum wag... by locust101 on Thursday August 29, 2019 @04:10PM (#20833127)

I have made $20k/year when I was in grad school and I definitely paid income tax. 18-20% overall IIRC.

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Re:Uber proposes policy that would pay drivers a minimum wag... by jcranberry on Thursday August 29, 2019 @04:38PM (#20833430)

Taxi drivers don't work 100+ hour work weeks with 24 hour shifts or have to pay malpractice insurance.

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Re:Uber proposes policy that would pay drivers a minimum wag... by davinic on Thursday August 29, 2019 @05:22PM (#20833837)

The tax "relief" you state is because it's an actual expense. It costs, on average, $0.58 per mile to operate a vehicle. If you're earning the equivalent of a full time wage at Uber, you're driving 30-50k miles per year and incurring that expense on those miles. It's not some magic money that you just get to use as the basis of a deduction.

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Re:Uber proposes policy that would pay drivers a minimum wag... by zjaffee on Thursday August 29, 2019 @02:55PM (#20832498)

But you also have to pay both sides of the payroll tax, I'd be surprised to learn that this ends up being true.

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