Is paid daily parking tax deductible for retail job when employer won't reimburse?
Title: Is paid daily parking tax deductible for retail job when employer won't reimburse? 1 Hey tax folks. I've been working this full-time retail position for about 8 months now and the parking situation is absolutely killing my wallet. There's zero free parking anywhere near my workplace that allows for more than 75 minutes (which doesn't cover even half my shift). I'm currently shelling out between $16-$19 every single day just to park my car while I work. That's adding up to almost $400 a month just in parking fees! My manager basically laughed when I asked if the company would consider reimbursing any of this, saying "that's just part of working downtown." I'm wondering if there's any way I can deduct these parking expenses on my taxes? This is seriously eating into my take-home pay, and I'm trying to figure out if there's any relief come tax time. With how much I'm spending annually just to park at my job, it would be a huge help if I could write this off somehow. Thanks for any advice you can give!
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GalaxyGlider
8 Unfortunately, commuting expenses including parking at your regular workplace are considered personal expenses by the IRS and aren't tax-deductible for employees. This falls under what the IRS considers normal commuting costs, similar to gas or public transportation fares. Before 2018, you might have been able to deduct these as unreimbursed employee expenses if they exceeded 2% of your adjusted gross income, but the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eliminated those deductions for employees until at least 2025. The only exceptions would be if: 1) You're self-employed and the parking is for a business purpose (not commuting), 2) You have a qualifying home office and are parking at a temporary work location, or 3) You're parking at a temporary work site away from your regular workplace.
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GalaxyGlider
•14 What if my employer provides free parking to managers but not regular staff? Would that make any difference for tax purposes? I'm in a similar situation but it seems unfair that some employees get this benefit while others don't.
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GalaxyGlider
•8 No, that wouldn't make a difference for tax deduction purposes. The IRS considers this a fairness issue between you and your employer, not something that changes the tax treatment. Even if some employees receive parking as a benefit (which would be taxable to them unless it's tax-qualified), that doesn't create a deduction for employees who don't receive it. If your employer provides free parking to some employees, that's typically considered a taxable fringe benefit to those employees (with some exceptions), but it doesn't create any tax benefits for employees who don't receive it.
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GalaxyGlider
3 I was in the exact same situation last year working at a mall where employee parking was basically non-existent. I was paying around $14 daily just to go to work! After getting frustrated with my accountant who kept saying I couldn't deduct it, I tried using https://taxr.ai to analyze my work expenses and parking situation. The tool analyzed my specific situation and found that even though regular commuting parking isn't deductible, there were some instances where I traveled between work locations during the same day that actually qualified as deductible business travel (not commuting). They helped me properly document these trips and separate them from my regular commuting. It didn't solve my whole problem, but I was able to deduct about 15% of what I spent when I had to park at different locations for work purposes.
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GalaxyGlider
•17 How does this service work exactly? Did you have to upload a bunch of receipts or something? I'm paying for parking at two different store locations and wondering if this might help me.
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GalaxyGlider
•11 Sounds interesting but I'm skeptical. How would the IRS know the difference between your regular commuting parking and the supposedly "deductible" business travel parking? Wouldn't you need some kind of special documentation from your employer?
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GalaxyGlider
•3 The service works by having you upload your expenses and answer questions about your work situation. It basically helps identify which tax rules apply to your specific circumstances. You absolutely need proper documentation to claim any deductions. I kept all my parking receipts and noted which were for travel between work sites (deductible) versus regular commuting (non-deductible). I also kept a log of which days I traveled between locations for work purposes. The IRS definitely expects you to have this kind of documentation if you're ever audited. Without good records, you shouldn't try claiming these deductions.
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GalaxyGlider
11 Just wanted to follow up about my experience with https://taxr.ai after being pretty skeptical. I decided to try it since my situation with working at multiple locations seemed similar. The tool actually confirmed that most of my parking expenses WEREN'T deductible (regular commuting), but helped me identify about $850 in legitimate business travel expenses I could document and deduct when I had to drive between our different store locations during the same workday. The analysis was really straightforward about what qualifies and what doesn't - definitely wasn't trying to help me claim things that weren't legitimate. Saved me from making mistakes while still finding deductions I would have missed.
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GalaxyGlider
6 Have you tried calling the IRS to get a definitive answer? When I had a similar question about job expenses, I spent DAYS trying to get through to an actual human at the IRS. Finally found https://claimyr.com which got me connected to an IRS agent in about 15 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was able to speak directly with someone who confirmed exactly what expenses I could and couldn't deduct for my situation. Saved me a ton of time and stress! For your situation, they might be able to tell you if there are any exceptions that could apply based on your specific circumstances.
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GalaxyGlider
•19 Wait, there's actually a way to talk to the IRS without waiting 3+ hours? How much does this service cost? The IRS phone system is absolute torture.
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GalaxyGlider
•11 This sounds like complete BS to be honest. There's no way some random service can magically get you through the IRS phone tree when millions of people can't get through. And even if you do talk to an agent, they often give inconsistent answers depending on who you get.
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GalaxyGlider
•6 The service doesn't bypass the IRS system - it basically navigates the phone tree for you and waits on hold in your place, then calls you when an actual human picks up. I don't remember the exact price but it was reasonable considering how much time it saved me. I had previously spent over 4 hours on hold without ever reaching anyone, so it was worth it to me. You're right that different IRS agents sometimes give slightly different answers, but in my experience getting an official answer directly from the IRS is still better than guessing or relying on random internet advice. I took notes during my call and got the agent's ID number just in case I needed to reference the conversation later.
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GalaxyGlider
11 I was wrong about the Claimyr service. After my skeptical comment, I decided to try it anyway since I had tax questions that were driving me crazy. It actually worked exactly as described - I got a call back when an IRS agent was on the line, which saved me from the hold music hell. The agent confirmed that parking at my regular workplace isn't deductible, but did explain some situations where parking could be deductible if it was for temporary work locations. Still disappointing news about my regular parking costs, but at least I got a definitive answer without wasting an entire day on hold.
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GalaxyGlider
9 Have you considered asking your employer about setting up a pre-tax parking benefit program? Under IRS code section 132(f), employers can offer qualified parking benefits that allow employees to pay for work-related parking with pre-tax dollars (up to $300/month in 2025). This would at least save you some money on income taxes. Your employer would need to set up the program though.
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GalaxyGlider
•1 I actually tried bringing this up with HR last month, but they said they "don't have the administrative capacity" to handle those kinds of benefits right now. I work for a pretty large retail chain too, so it seems like they just don't want to bother with it. Would there be any other options if they refuse to set up a program like this?
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GalaxyGlider
•9 Unfortunately, if your employer isn't willing to establish a qualified transportation fringe benefit program, you don't have many other options for making those parking expenses pre-tax. These benefits have to be employer-sponsored. You might consider looking into carpooling with coworkers to split costs or researching if there are any monthly parking passes that might reduce your daily rate. Some cities also have programs for retail workers in downtown areas - might be worth checking with your local transportation authority or downtown business association to see if any special programs exist for essential workers.
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GalaxyGlider
22 Have you looked into whether there might be monthly parking passes nearby that cost less than paying the daily rate? When I worked retail downtown, I found a garage three blocks away that offered a monthly pass for about half what I was paying daily at the closer garage. The walk wasn't ideal but saving $200/month definitely was!
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GalaxyGlider
•4 Monthly passes are definitely the way to go. I used to pay $18/day until I found a lot that offered $180/month instead of the $360+ I was spending. It was a 10-minute walk, but totally worth it. Some places also offer evening/weekend employee discounts if you ask - especially if you work at a business that brings customers to the area.
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