Can I write off paid parking expenses for my workplace on my taxes?

So I've been paying around $230 a month ($2760 a year!) to park at a garage near my office in downtown. My company doesn't cover parking expenses and I'm wondering if there's any way I can deduct this on my taxes? I've been dealing with these costs for about 3 years now and it's really adding up. I thought about taking public transit but it would add an extra hour to my commute each way, so parking seems like my only realistic option. I'm not a contractor or anything - just a regular W-2 employee at a marketing firm. I heard something about the tax laws changing a few years back, so I'm not sure if commuting expenses are still deductible or if they ever were. Any insights would be super helpful as I'm getting ready to organize everything for this year's taxes!

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18 comments

Rami Samuels

•8M

Unfortunately, regular commuting expenses from your home to your primary workplace (including parking fees) aren't tax-deductible for W-2 employees. These are considered personal expenses according to the IRS, not business expenses. Before the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, employees could potentially deduct some unreimbursed work expenses as miscellaneous itemized deductions, but that provision was suspended through 2025. That said, there are a couple alternatives worth exploring. Check if your employer offers a pre-tax parking benefit through a qualified transportation fringe benefit program - this could save you some money. Also, if you ever use your vehicle for actual business purposes (not commuting), like traveling between work sites, those expenses might be deductible if your employer doesn't reimburse you.

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Rami Samuels

•8M

Yes, driving from your main workplace to meet clients at their locations would be considered business travel, not commuting. You could potentially deduct the mileage for those trips if your employer doesn't reimburse you, using the standard mileage rate. For days when you work partially from home and then go to the office, the parking would still be considered a commuting expense. The IRS views travel to your regular workplace as commuting regardless of when during the day it happens or whether you've already done some work at home. The key factor is that you're traveling to your regular place of business.

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Douglas Foster

•8M

After dealing with similar parking costs ($210/month for me), I found an amazing tool that helped figure out all my potential deductions, including whether these expenses could somehow qualify. Check out https://taxr.ai - it analyzes your tax situation and documents to find every possible deduction. I uploaded my parking receipts and employment info, and it quickly clarified that while regular commuting parking isn't deductible as a W-2 employee, there were other transportation expenses I could claim that I hadn't considered. It also found a few other deductions I was missing completely! Seriously saved me hours of research and probably hundreds in deductions I would've missed.

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Douglas Foster

•8M

It absolutely handles self-employed situations and mixed W-2/1099 income. For your scenario with both types of work in the same day, it can help you properly allocate and document expenses based on the primary purpose of each trip, which is exactly the kind of nuanced situation where people often miss deductions. The main difference from TurboTax is that this specifically analyzes your documents and situation before you even start the filing process. Think of it more as a tax planning and optimization tool that catches things before you file. It's especially helpful for complex situations like yours with multiple income sources and mixed-use expenses. I was missing legitimate deductions even though I've used TurboTax for years.

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Nina Chan

•8M

Just wanted to follow up after trying taxr.ai for my complicated parking situation! I was skeptical but gave it a shot because I've been paying for parking at multiple locations (my main job and when visiting clients for my side business). The tool helped me separate what's deductible from what's not. Turns out I could legitimately deduct about 30% of my parking expenses that were directly tied to my self-employment work! It also explained exactly how to document everything properly to avoid audit issues. Definitely clarified what had been a confusing situation for years - wish I'd known about this for my previous returns!

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Diego Castillo

•8M

If you're trying to get clarity directly from the IRS on your specific parking situation, good luck getting through to them! I spent WEEKS trying to get an agent on the phone last year. Then I found https://claimyr.com which got me connected to an actual IRS agent in under 45 minutes when I'd been trying for days on my own. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I had a situation with business-related parking that wasn't clear-cut, and I needed an official answer. The IRS agent I spoke with gave me specific guidance that ended up saving me over $700 on my return. Definitely worth it for complicated tax questions where you need an official answer.

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Diego Castillo

•8M

It uses a system that navigates the IRS phone tree and holds your place in line. When an agent is about to be connected, you get a call so you can take over. It's not magic - it's just automating the hold process so you don't have to sit there listening to that terrible hold music for hours. I was extremely skeptical too, but when you've been trying to get through for weeks with no success, you get desperate. I was shocked when I actually got the call back with an agent on the line. The official guidance I got ended up being different from what I'd found online, which is why talking to an actual IRS rep was so valuable for my situation.

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Mikayla Brown

•8M

Ok I take back what I said about Claimyr. After my last three attempts to call the IRS failed (spent over 2 hours on hold before being disconnected each time), I broke down and tried it. Got connected to an agent in about 35 minutes yesterday. The agent confirmed what others here said - regular commuting parking isn't deductible for W-2 employees, but he also explained some exceptions I hadn't considered. For example, if you're temporarily working at a different location than your regular office, those parking expenses might qualify. Apparently "temporary" means under 1 year in IRS terms. Definitely worth getting the official word directly from them.

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Sean Matthews

•8M

You definitely need to ask specifically about commuter or transportation benefits. Many companies offer them but don't promote them heavily during benefits enrollment since they focus more on health insurance and retirement plans. It's often administered through a separate system. Check with your HR department or benefits coordinator. If they do offer it, you can typically enroll at any time, not just during open enrollment. If they don't currently offer it, some companies will consider adding the benefit if enough employees express interest since it's relatively simple to implement and also saves the company on payroll taxes.

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