Bookkeeping guide
Moving & hauling tax bookkeeping: categories to review
Junk removal, moving help, box-truck hauling. If you got a 1099 for this work, here are common categories and review questions; your facts and records determine what qualifies.
Worth knowing
These are common expenses people in this line of work may need to review. Anything marked in orange is an edge case worth raising with a preparer rather than assuming.
Mileage — keep a timely log
Driving between job sites, to the dump, and on supply runs may be business mileage. Whether the drive from home to your first job counts depends on your facts, such as whether your home is your principal place of business or you have a regular work location. Keep a timely log of date, destination, purpose, and mileage; app trip summaries can help you reconcile but do not replace your own log. With the standard rate, don't also book fuel, repairs, insurance, or registration for the same vehicle; business parking and tolls may still count separately.
$0.70 / mile 2025 rate
Truck & trailer: rate or actual costs?
To use the mileage rate for a truck you own, you generally must choose it in the first year the truck is used for business, and the rate isn't available if you operate five or more vehicles at the same time. Actual costs include the business share of fuel, repairs, insurance, and registration, plus depreciation. A truck or trailer purchase is generally recovered through depreciation on Form 4562, where Section 179 or bonus depreciation can change the timing. Renting a truck for a job? Record the rental and its fuel as costs, and don't also log those miles at the mileage rate. Ask your preparer whether a large box truck qualifies for the rate.
Form 4562 big purchases
Dump & disposal fees
Landfill tipping fees, transfer-station charges, and fees to dispose of tires, mattresses, or appliances are generally ordinary and necessary costs of hauling jobs. Keep each scale ticket or receipt and note the job. If you bill the fee to your customer, record what the customer paid as income and the fee as an expense rather than netting them.
keep tickets per load
Helpers — contractor or employee?
Whether a helper is an independent contractor or an employee depends on the facts, such as who controls how and when the work is done; misclassification can create payroll-tax liability. Collect a Form W-9 before paying a contractor. If you pay a contractor $600 or more for services in 2025, you generally must file Form 1099-NEC (card and payment-app payments can follow different rules). Employees are paid through payroll as wages. Keep records of cash payments too, and confirm your crew's status with your preparer.
W-9 first before paying
App payouts, lead fees & who pays you
GoShare, Dolly, and similar apps may pay you net of their fees, while Thumbtack, Angi, and others may bill lead fees separately. Record the gross job amount as income and the actual fee from the payout or billing statement as an expense instead of estimating a percentage. Income is reportable even when no Form 1099 arrives, including cash, check, and Zelle payments. Wages a moving company reports on a W-2 generally don't belong on Schedule C; if a company pays you on a 1099 but controls your work like an employer, ask your preparer.
actual fee from statement
Tips & the 2025 tips deduction
Tips from customers, in cash or through an app, are generally business income on Schedule C. For 2025, a separate federal deduction for qualified tips may apply to occupations on the Treasury list of those that customarily receive tips, which includes home movers; whether junk-removal or hauling work fits is a question for your preparer. The deduction is claimed on the Form 1040 side, not Schedule C, has dollar and income limits, and does not reduce self-employment tax. Keep a separate record of tips.
log tips Form 1040 side
Scrap & salvage money
Money from scrap yards or from selling items salvaged on jobs is generally business income. The Schedule C instructions list scrap sales as Line 6 other income; if reselling salvaged items is a regular part of your business, ask your preparer whether it belongs in gross receipts instead. Keep each scale ticket or receipt and record cash payouts the day you get them. Buying items to resell is different — inventory rules can apply.
Line 6 other income
Common categories PrivateBooks suggests
Pick Moving & hauling during guided setup and PrivateBooks shows these categories mapped to Schedule C lines for review — no chart of accounts to invent. The mapping does not establish eligibility, business-use share, or substantiation:
| Category | Schedule C line |
|---|---|
| Truck fuel, repairs or mileage | Line 9 — Car and truck expenses |
| Truck & trailer rental (U-Haul, Penske) | Line 20a — Rent/lease (vehicles, equipment) |
| Dump, landfill & disposal fees | Line 27b — Other expenses |
| Helpers paid as contractors | Line 11 — Contract labor |
| Crew wages through payroll | Line 26 — Wages |
| Blankets, straps, dollies & packing supplies | Line 22 — Supplies |
| Business parking & tolls | Line 9 — Car and truck expenses (business parking and tolls) |
| App & lead fees (Thumbtack, Angi) | Line 10 — Commissions and fees |
| General liability & cargo insurance | Line 15 — Insurance (other than health) |
| Business licenses, permits & DOT fees | Line 23 — Taxes and licenses |
| Ads, listings & truck signs | Line 8 — Advertising |
| Card processing fees | Line 27b — Other (bank & merchant fees) |
| Phone bill (work %) | Line 27b — Other (phone & internet) |
| Scrap metal & salvage sales | Line 6 — Other income |
Merchants it recognises automatically
On top of the 584 built-in sorting rules, this pack adds rules for Angi, Budget Truck, Goshare, Harbor Freight, Homeadvisor, Landfill, Penske Truck, Solid Waste, Transfer Station, U-Haul, Uhaul. A matching description gets a suggested bookkeeping category; anything uncertain goes to Review instead of being guessed at. Spot-check every suggestion: a merchant match is not proof of business use, eligibility, allocation, or substantiation.
Do you even have to file?
Net earnings from self-employment of $400 or more generally require Schedule SE, but other filing rules can apply below $400. Whether you received a 1099, also have W-2 wages, had withholding, or need estimated payments depends on the full return. Review the official Schedule SE instructions or ask a qualified preparer instead of treating this bookkeeping guide as a filing decision.
See an optional cash-reserve illustration →
Educational pointers, not tax advice. Tax rules change and your situation is specific — worth asking about at tax time. The free IRS-sponsored VITA program helps people under its income threshold at no cost.