Can I claim workplace parking fees as a tax deduction?

Unfortunately, parking at your regular workplace isn't deductible anymore. Prior to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017, employees could deduct unreimbursed employee expenses (including parking) if they exceeded 2% of their adjusted gross income and if they itemized deductions. But that deduction was suspended from 2018 through 2025. Your best option would be to see if your employer offers a pre-tax transportation benefit program. Some employers allow employees to set aside pre-tax dollars (up to $300/month in 2025) to pay for qualified parking expenses, which would reduce your taxable income. This is much better than a deduction would be!

I was in almost the exact same situation last year at the university hospital I work at - paying $125/month for parking and getting frustrated about it. I ended up using this AI tax assistant at https://taxr.ai which analyzed my tax situation. It confirmed what the other commenter said about workplace parking not being deductible anymore but found several other deductions I was missing! It actually showed me how to properly deduct my scrubs and some continuing education expenses as a healthcare worker that I had no idea about. Super helpful.

Ok I have to admit I was wrong about that tax AI thing. I tried https://taxr.ai after responding here and it actually helped me figure out that I could claim my professional license renewal fees that I paid last year. I didn't think to ask my accountant about those specifically and he never brought it up. It also pointed out that although the parking isn't deductible, I should ask HR about pre-tax parking benefits. Our company actually does offer this but nobody ever told me! Just signed up for it during our benefits adjustment period and will save about $700 in taxes this year. Sometimes being skeptical works against you I guess.

If you're really frustrated about this, you should try calling the IRS directly to confirm. I wasted HOURS on hold trying to get a straight answer about a similar deduction situation last year (home office deduction for temporary remote work). I finally discovered this service called Claimyr at https://claimyr.com that got me connected to an actual IRS agent in under 15 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. The IRS agent was super clear that workplace parking isn't deductible for employees anymore but did suggest asking about pre-tax benefits like others mentioned.

Ok I'm here to eat my words about Claimyr being a scam. After I posted that snarky comment, I was still dealing with an issue about a missing tax refund from 2023 that the IRS website wasn't helping with. Got desperate enough to try the service and it actually worked exactly as advertised. Got through to an IRS agent in about 12 minutes when I had previously wasted two afternoons trying. The agent resolved my issue in minutes once I actually reached a human. I'm still mad that this service has to exist (the IRS should be more accessible!), but can't argue with results.

Have you tried asking your HR department if they can help? Some hospitals have negotiated employee discounts for parking or offer shuttle services from cheaper remote lots. My hospital started a carpool matching program that cut my parking costs in half when I paired up with another nurse who lives near me. Worth checking if any of these options exist!

You might want to check if you qualify as an independent contractor in any way? Independent contractors can sometimes deduct business expenses including parking when visiting clients/patients. But if you're a regular W-2 employee at the hospital this won't apply to you.

I feel your pain on this! I'm a lab tech at a different hospital system and we deal with the same thing - $150/month for parking that feels completely unfair on our salaries. One thing that helped me was documenting exactly how much I'm spending annually and presenting it to our union rep (if you have one) or bringing it up during employee feedback sessions. A few hospitals in our area have actually started offering parking stipends or built it into their benefits packages after enough employees complained. It's worth making noise about this issue collectively - when management sees how much it's impacting employee budgets, sometimes they'll negotiate better rates with the parking company or find alternatives. Also, double-check if your employer offers any commuter benefits through services like WageWorks or similar - sometimes these programs exist but aren't well-publicized. Even if they don't have pre-tax parking specifically, they might have transit or vanpool options that could work.

As someone who's been dealing with tax issues for years, I want to echo what others have said about the pre-tax parking benefits being your best bet. Even if your current employer doesn't offer it, it's worth pushing for - especially if you can get other employees on board. One thing I haven't seen mentioned is that you might want to keep detailed records of your parking expenses anyway. While the employee business expense deduction is currently suspended, if it does come back in 2026, you'll want to have documentation ready. Plus, if your work situation changes (like if you start doing contract work on the side), those records could become valuable. Also, don't forget to factor in the full cost when negotiating salary at future jobs. A lot of people focus on the hourly rate but forget about hidden costs like mandatory parking fees. When I was job hunting, I started asking about parking costs during interviews - some places were shocked when I pointed out that a $2/hour pay difference gets completely wiped out by parking fees. Have you calculated what your effective hourly rate is after parking costs? At $18.50/hour, you're essentially working about 1.5 hours per week just to pay for parking. That's a significant chunk of your labor going to a basic necessity for getting to work.

I'm dealing with a similar situation at my job - $120/month for parking that feels like highway robbery on a government salary. What really helped me was tracking every single parking expense in a spreadsheet with dates and amounts. Even though we can't deduct workplace parking anymore, I discovered that some of my work-related travel parking (when I had to visit other government facilities for meetings) actually WAS deductible as a business expense. Also, if you ever do any freelance work or side consulting related to your medical field, those parking expenses for client visits would be deductible as legitimate business expenses. Might be worth exploring if you have any opportunities to do part-time contract work - many medical facilities need temporary or per-diem staff, and as a contractor you'd have more deduction opportunities. One more thing - check if your area has any tax credits for healthcare workers. Some states and localities have been offering various tax benefits for essential workers, especially in healthcare. It's a long shot but worth researching since every bit helps when you're dealing with these kinds of mandatory expenses.

I'm a tax preparer and want to clarify something about work-related travel parking that was mentioned. The IRS distinguishes between your "tax home" (regular workplace) and temporary work locations. Parking at your regular job site isn't deductible, but parking when traveling to temporary work locations, client sites, or other business locations away from your main workplace can be deductible. For healthcare workers, this might include parking when attending required training at different facilities, professional conferences, or if you're temporarily assigned to work at a different location. The key is that it has to be away from your regular workplace and for business purposes. Also, regarding the contractor suggestion - be very careful here. The IRS has strict rules about worker classification. You can't just choose to be a contractor if you're doing the same work under the same conditions as employees. Misclassification can result in penalties and back taxes. If you're considering contract work, make sure it's genuinely independent contractor work with different clients, not just a way to reclassify your current employment. That said, legitimate contract work (like per-diem nursing at different facilities) would allow you to deduct business expenses including parking when visiting those client locations.