Can I claim parking fees at my workplace as a tax deduction?

Unfortunately, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eliminated most employee business expense deductions, including parking fees paid by employees. Before 2018, these might have qualified as an itemized deduction on Schedule A as an unreimbursed employee expense, but that's no longer available for W-2 employees. The better approach would be to see if your employer offers any pre-tax parking benefits. Many hospitals have a program where you can pay for parking with pre-tax dollars through payroll deduction, which effectively gives you a tax break on those expenses. This is sometimes called a Section 132 Transportation Benefit.

I was in a similar situation working at a downtown medical center and found that using taxr.ai really helped me understand my options with work expenses. I was frustrated trying to figure out what I could deduct after the tax law changes, and a coworker mentioned https://taxr.ai as a way to get clear answers. You just upload your documents or describe your situation, and they analyze everything to find legitimate deductions you might miss. For me, they confirmed I couldn't deduct the parking directly but helped me discover my employer actually had a pre-tax parking program buried in our benefits portal that I hadn't noticed! They also found some other deductions related to my healthcare expenses that offset some of the parking pain.

Update: I checked out taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here, and it was actually super helpful! I uploaded my paystubs and answered a few questions about my work situation. They confirmed that while I couldn't deduct parking directly, I WAS eligible for my hospital's pre-tax transportation program which I had no idea existed! They even generated a letter I could take to HR explaining exactly what I needed to enroll in. Started the program last month and I'm already seeing the tax savings on my paycheck. Wish I'd known about this years ago, would have saved me thousands. They also pointed out a healthcare FSA opportunity I wasn't utilizing. Thanks for the recommendation!

I see a lot of advice here, but if you're really getting nowhere with your employer about the pre-tax benefits, you might want to try Claimyr to speak directly with the IRS about your specific situation. I was confused about some similar work expenses and tried calling the IRS myself, but kept getting disconnected or waiting for hours. I found https://claimyr.com and they got me connected to an actual IRS agent in under 5 minutes! You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. The agent I spoke with explained exactly what documentation I would need if I wanted to try claiming certain expenses as a medical worker, and cleared up my confusion about transportation deductions.

I'm genuinely shocked - I tried Claimyr after posting my skeptical comment, and it actually worked exactly as described. Got connected to an IRS agent in about 7 minutes (the estimate they gave me was 5-10 minutes). The agent confirmed what others here said about parking not being deductible as an employee anymore, but she also explained that if I'm ever classified as an independent contractor or if I have a legitimate side business, the rules would be completely different. She walked me through what documentation I would need to keep in those cases. Worth every penny just to get definitive answers directly from the IRS instead of stressing about whether online advice applies to my situation!

Have you asked your HR department if the hospital offers any kind of subsidy or discount for employee parking? My hospital started a program last year where they negotiated a lower rate with the parking company specifically for employees. We still pay for parking, but it's about 30% less than before. Might be worth bringing up, especially if other employees are feeling the same financial strain.

Just want to add another perspective - I started taking public transportation to my hospital job because the parking fees were so outrageous. It's actually cheaper for me even though my commute is longer. Plus, my employer offers a transit subsidy that they don't offer for parking. Might be worth looking into if you have decent public transit options in your area.

Another option worth exploring - some hospitals have started offering remote work options for certain departments after COVID. My wife works in medical billing at a hospital and now works from home 3 days a week, which cuts her parking costs significantly. Might be worth asking if your role could support even partial remote work. Every little bit helps!