When each app pays you, and why the date matters for tax
Most apps pay weekly, on different days, with a fee to get it sooner. Evri pays monthly. The pay date decides how much cash you need in reserve and, at the start and end of the year, which tax year the money falls in.
Correct for the 2026/27 tax year. Last checked 29/09/2026.
Knowing when each app pays is half budgeting and half tax. Budgeting, because a driver who starts on a monthly-paid round needs weeks of fuel money before the first payment. Tax, because the day money arrives can decide which year it is taxed in.
Pay days, platform by platform
| Platform | Normal pay | Early access |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon Flex | Every Wednesday, for the previous Monday to Sunday | None described by Amazon |
| Deliveroo | Every Tuesday by midnight, for the previous Monday to Sunday | Cash out any time, 50p; instant before 17:30 on weekdays |
| Uber Eats | Weekly after the Monday 4am close; statement on Tuesday | Instant, 50p, up to 5 a day; two-day, free, once a day |
| Uber | Weekly after the Monday 4am close | Instant, 50p, up to £1,600 a week; two-day, free; after 25 trips and 14 days |
| Just Eat | Sent every Tuesday for the previous Monday to Sunday; usually arrives by Friday | None described |
| Stuart | Tuesday by midnight, for the previous Monday to Sunday | Through Onsi from 10am next day, up to £200; one free a month, then £2 |
| Bolt | Weekly, after the Monday to Sunday cycle, net of commission | Not described for UK drivers |
| Evri | Monthly, by BACS | None |
| DPD | Connect: weekly. Owner drivers: commonly every four weeks | None described |
| Addison Lee | Weekly for account work | Not described |
Each platform can change these, and bank holidays push most of them back a working day.
What cash out really costs
A 50p fee looks like nothing. Cash out every day on Deliveroo or Uber and it is about £180 a year, which is money for a service you would not need with a week of fuel money in the bank. The fee is an allowable business expense, so it comes off your profit, but the cheapest cash out is the one you did not make.
The Uber and Deliveroo fees are taken from the payment, so the amount in your bank is 50p short of what you earned. Your turnover is the full amount; the fee is the expense. A statement shows both.
Which tax year the money belongs to
Since the 2024/25 tax year, the cash basis has been the default for sole traders. Under it you record income when you receive it and costs when you pay them. So earnings from the week of 30 March to 5 April, paid on the following Tuesday or Wednesday, belong to the NEW tax year, not the one the work was done in.
For most drivers this moves a week or two of earnings between years, and it evens out over time. It matters in two cases: the year you start, when the first payments may land later than you think, and the year you stop or have an unusually big final month. It also matters on Evri, where a monthly payment in early April can carry most of March's work into the next year.
Why the platform's annual figure will not match
The platforms report your earnings to HMRC for each calendar year. Your return covers 6 April to 5 April. The two totals overlap for nine months and differ for three, so they will almost never agree. That is expected. Build your return from the payments you received in the tax year, and keep the weekly or monthly statements that prove it. What the platforms tell HMRC covers the reports.
Budgeting around pay days
- Keep a float of at least one pay period of fuel and insurance. On a monthly round that is a month.
- Move a share of every payment into a separate account for tax as it arrives. Budgeting for a tax bill shows how to size it.
- Multi-app drivers get paid on four or five different days. Tracking each shift as you do it, rather than working back from bank credits, is how you know what a week really made.
Sources
Common questions
- Which delivery apps pay weekly?
- Amazon Flex, Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Uber, Just Eat, Stuart, Bolt and DPD Connect all pay weekly, on different days. Evri pays monthly, and DPD owner drivers are commonly paid every four weeks.
- Is instant cash out worth the fee?
- Deliveroo and Uber both charge 50p a cash out. Used once a week it is small; used daily it is £180 a year. The fee is a business expense, but it is better not to need it, which is what a small float of your own money is for.
- Which tax year does a late March payment go in?
- Under the cash basis, which most sole traders now use by default, income belongs to the tax year you receive it. Work done at the end of March that is paid in April falls into the new tax year.
- Why does my annual platform statement not match my tax return?
- Platforms report to HMRC by calendar year, January to December, and your return runs from 6 April to 5 April. The two will almost never match, and your return should be built from the payments you received in the tax year.
About the author
Issac Davies, Founder of JoltMile
Issac Davies drives for gig apps in the UK and built JoltMile to show drivers what a shift actually pays once fuel, insurance and tax come off. Every guide here is checked against HMRC and gov.uk guidance, and is information rather than tax advice.
Track this automatically
The JoltMile app works this out from your own shifts, and keeps the figures ready for Self Assessment. Your first 10 shifts are free.
Related
Budgeting for a tax bill you have not had yet
Set aside a percentage of every payment as it arrives, into an account you do not spend from. For most full-time drivers claiming mileage, somewhere between 20% and 30% of what the platforms pay is enough, and the first year needs more because of payments on account.
HMRC & taxUpdated 27/08/2026
Getting your earnings statements out of each app
Every platform holds your earnings history somewhere and none of them keeps it forever. Download a statement every month, in the app or on the partner web portal, and keep it outside the app. A deactivated account is an account you cannot get history out of.
HMRC & taxUpdated 27/08/2026
How do I handle tax when I work for several apps?
One business, one return. Add all the income together, claim your expenses and mileage once across the lot, and file a single Self Assessment.
Multi-app drivingUpdated 20/08/2026
Record keeping, and how long to keep it
You have to keep enough to show how every figure on your return was arrived at: what you were paid, what you spent, and how far you drove for the work. Records have to be kept for 5 years after the filing deadline for the year they cover.
HMRC & taxUpdated 27/08/2026
Amazon Flex or an Amazon delivery partner job?
There are two ways to deliver Amazon parcels. Flex is self-employed, in your own car, a block at a time. A Delivery Service Partner job is with a separate company that provides the van and usually sets a full day. They are different jobs with different tax.
Getting startedUpdated 29/09/2026
What the platforms tell HMRC about your earnings
Since 2024 every delivery and ride app has to collect your tax details and report what it paid you to HMRC once a year. There is no minimum for services. Here is what is reported, when, why it will not match your return, and what to do with the copy you are sent.
HMRC & taxUpdated 29/09/2026