Updated October 23, 2026. Quick answer: The 2025 Schedule C chart lists 485300 as “Taxi, limousine, & ridesharing service” and 492000 as “Couriers & messengers”. One six-digit code goes on line B beside your line A description. Which row reads closer depends on the principal source of your receipts, and a neighboring row such as 485990 may fit better for other kinds of ground passenger work.
Two chart rows for driving work
Two rows on the 2025 chart fit driving for pay, and which one reads closer depends on what you carry. 485300 is worded as “Taxi, limousine, & ridesharing service”, and 492000 is worded as “Couriers & messengers”. People who drive riders and people who carry packages may therefore read different rows.
| Code | Wording on the IRS chart |
|---|---|
| 485300 | Taxi, limousine, & ridesharing service |
| 492000 | Couriers & messengers |
Filling in line A and line B
Line A asks for a description of the work: “Describe the business or professional activity that provided your principal source of income reported on line 1.” Line B asks for the code: “Enter on line B the six-digit code from the Principal Business or Professional Activity Codes chart” The code goes in the box on line B, beside the description.
An example of the kind of description, not IRS wording: a driver could write a short phrase about carrying passengers or about carrying parcels, whichever is the larger part of the work. Line B takes one six-digit number. The form itself is walked through on our Schedule C page.
What the wording does and does not name
The chart has no row that names a driver, a delivery job, or the word rideshare as a single term. The words driver and delivery appear in no row, and the nearest idea sits inside the “Taxi, limousine, & ridesharing service” wording, which lists taxi, limousine, and ridesharing. The courier row names couriers and messengers. So the question for a gig driver is which row’s words describe the work that brings in more of your receipts.
Neighbors in the transportation group
Other rows in the same part of the chart describe different services, and the wording of each shows the difference.
| Code | Wording on the IRS chart |
|---|---|
| 485300 | Taxi, limousine, & ridesharing service |
| 492000 | Couriers & messengers |
| 485990 | Other transit & ground passenger transportation |
| 484110 | General freight trucking, local |
| 484200 | Specialized freight trucking (including household moving vans) |
| 488000 | Support activities for transportation (including motor vehicle towing) |
The chart’s rule has two steps: “Select the category that best describes your primary business activity”, and then “Then select the activity that best identifies the principal source of your sales or receipts”.
If you do both kinds of driving
Some drivers carry passengers on some days and parcels on others. The chart’s rule looks to the larger stream: “Then select the activity that best identifies the principal source of your sales or receipts”. If they are kept as two businesses, the instructions say: “If you owned more than one business, complete a separate Schedule C for each business.”
Because the vehicle is central to this work, readers often also open Schedule C part IV, lines 43 to 47, vehicle information and lines 8 and 9, advertising and car and truck expenses. Those pages describe the lines and the schedule’s own questions, nothing more.
Edition and chart year
This page reads the 2025 Schedule C (Form 1040) and its 2025 instructions, the current files irs.gov served on 2026-10-23 (byte-identical to the archived copies). They are the files for the tax year 2025 return, filed in 2026. The schedule says “Attach to Form 1040, 1040-SR, 1040-SS, 1040-NR, or 1041”. Check the tax year printed on the schedule you are filling in and use the chart that comes with that year’s instructions, because a different year’s chart can list different codes or reword them.
Common mistakes
- Entering both codes on line B. The instructions ask for “Enter on line B the six-digit code from the Principal Business or Professional Activity Codes chart”, a single code.
- Assuming the word rideshare or delivery picks the row. The chart says to find “Then select the activity that best identifies the principal source of your sales or receipts”.
- Combining separate businesses. The instructions say “If you owned more than one business, complete a separate Schedule C for each business.”
Related: Schedule C (Form 1040) explained, Schedule C part IV, lines 43 to 47, vehicle information, Schedule C lines 8 and 9, car and truck expenses, 1099-K threshold, and Schedule C business codes: the full IRS list.
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Answer againSources
- Instructions for Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Business (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040sc.pdf
- Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Business (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040sc.pdf
Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 23, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.