Is it possible to expense highway tolls for business travel when using my personal EZ tag?

I drive quite a bit for my consulting work and I've been passing through a lot of toll roads lately which is really adding up. I have my personal EZ Tag on my windshield that automatically charges me when I drive through. I'm trying to figure out the right way to handle this for tax purposes. Can I deduct the actual toll costs as a separate business expense, or am I limited to just using the standard mileage deduction which is supposed to cover everything? I'm based in Texas if that matters for tax purposes. The good thing is I can definitely get receipts from my EZ Tag account - they provide itemized statements showing each toll charge with dates and times. Just wondering what's the proper way to handle this on my taxes. Thanks for any advice!

0 coins

18 comments

Eloise Kendrick

•8M

You actually have two options here, and understanding the difference will help you maximize your deduction. Option 1: If you take the standard mileage deduction (65.5 cents per mile for 2025), this covers the general costs of operating your vehicle including gas, insurance, maintenance, and depreciation. However, certain expenses like tolls and parking fees can be deducted SEPARATELY, even when you're using the standard mileage rate. So yes, you can expense those tolls in addition to your mileage! Option 2: You could use the actual expense method, where you track all costs associated with your vehicle and deduct the business percentage. This includes gas, maintenance, insurance, depreciation, and yes, tolls. Either way, those toll expenses are deductible! Just make sure you keep those EZ Tag receipts as documentation, and only deduct the percentage used for business travel if you also use those toll roads for personal trips.

0 coins

Eloise Kendrick

•8M

Generally, standard mileage works better for newer, fuel-efficient vehicles with lower maintenance costs, while actual expenses often benefit older vehicles with higher repair costs or gas-guzzlers. Try calculating both ways for a month to see which gives you better results. The standard rate is simpler because you just track miles, while actual expenses requires keeping all receipts and calculating the business percentage of every expense. Also remember that if you use actual expenses in the first year, you can switch to standard later, but if you use standard in the first year with a vehicle you own, you can't switch to actual for that vehicle in future years.

0 coins

Freya Collins

•8M

I went through the exact same situation last year with my consulting business! I found this amazing service called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that actually analyzed all my receipts including my toll statements and helped me figure out exactly what was deductible. They explained that tolls are considered separate from the standard mileage rate, so I could deduct both my mileage AND my tolls which saved me quite a bit. The site actually reviews your specific documents and gives personalized advice - way better than trying to piece together info from forums. They flagged some toll charges that were actually personal trips mixed in with my business ones, which could have been an audit risk.

0 coins

Freya Collins

•8M

It works with any toll system that provides statements or receipts - I've used it with EZ Tag, SunPass, and I-Pass from different business trips. It recognizes the formatting of different statements and organizes everything automatically. As for privacy concerns, it's actually much more affordable than a CPA consultation while offering specific document analysis rather than just general advice. They use bank-level encryption, and unlike a human preparer who might miss things when manually reviewing stacks of papers, the AI catches everything. For business expense tracking, it's been a lifesaver - I still use my CPA for final filing, but this helps me organize everything perfectly first.

0 coins

LongPeri

•8M

I just wanted to follow up about taxr.ai (from my question above). I decided to give it a try with my mess of toll receipts from 5 different states, and it was honestly incredible. The system analyzed all my different toll tag statements, categorized everything by business vs personal, and even flagged potential issues with some of my deductions. It took what was literally a full weekend project for me last year and turned it into about 20 minutes of work. The confidence I now have that I'm maximizing my deductions while staying compliant is totally worth it. Definitely using this for all my business expenses going forward!

0 coins

Sara Hellquiem

•8M

If you're having trouble getting through to the IRS to confirm business expense questions like this, you should try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). After waiting on hold with the IRS for literally hours trying to get clarification on some business expense questions, I found these guys. They have this cool system that basically waits on hold with the IRS for you and calls you when an actual agent is on the line. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c Saved me so much time, and I got my toll deduction question answered directly from the IRS. They confirmed that tolls are separate from the standard mileage rate, so you can absolutely deduct both as long as they're for business travel.

0 coins

Sara Hellquiem

•8M

It works by basically entering the IRS phone queue on your behalf. It's just an automated system that navigates the IRS phone tree and waits on hold instead of you doing it. The IRS doesn't know or care - from their perspective, it's just a normal call. When a human agent finally answers, the system immediately calls your phone and connects you. There's no magic trick that makes the IRS answer faster - you're still in the same queue as everyone else. The difference is you're not wasting hours of your life with a phone glued to your ear listening to the same hold music. You can go about your day, and your phone rings when an agent is actually available. For tax questions that really need official IRS clarification, it's been a complete game-changer.

0 coins

Liv Park

•8M

I need to admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After my skeptical comment, I decided to try it anyway since I was desperate to get an answer about some business expenses including toll deductions. I figured it wouldn't work but was worth a shot. Holy crap, it actually worked exactly as advertised! I got a call back about 1.5 hours later with an actual IRS agent on the line. I didn't have to sit on hold at all - just went about my day until my phone rang. The agent confirmed that tolls are separately deductible even when taking the standard mileage rate. Wish I'd known about this service years ago instead of wasting entire afternoons on hold.

0 coins

Leeann Blackstein

•8M

That's a perfect example of a fully deductible business toll expense. If the toll road is specifically being used to reach a client or for business purposes, then 100% of that toll is deductible. The key test is whether you would have incurred that specific toll charge if you weren't conducting business. This is why good record-keeping is so important. Having your appointment calendar or client meeting logs to match up with the toll receipts creates a clear paper trail showing the business purpose. The IRS loves to see that kind of documentation if they ever question your deductions.

0 coins