Are parking fees and tolls deductible for business?

The rule

Publication 463 (2025) treats parking and tolls in two places. Under the standard mileage rate, it says that in addition to using the rate you can deduct any business-related parking fees and tolls. Under actual car expenses, tolls and parking fees are on the list of deductible costs along with gas, repairs and insurance. So under either method, the toll you paid to reach a client and the lot you used while meeting them are deductible. The 70 cents per mile for 2025 is the publication’s figure for the cost of operating a car for business use, and parking and tolls are not baked into it.

Where parking is not deductible

Fees you pay to park your car at your place of business are nondeductible commuting expenses. The publication says you cannot deduct the cost of driving a car between your home and your main or regular place of work, however far, and the same logic extends to the lot at the office. Union members get no relief: if you receive assignments at a union hall and go to a job site, the cost of getting from the hall to the job is commuting because you are employed where you work. Business parking when visiting a customer or client, at a temporary work location when you have a regular workplace elsewhere, or between two jobs on the same day, is business-related.

Tolls on the commute

Tolls take the character of the trip. A toll paid on your way from home to your regular workplace is part of commuting. A toll on the way from one client to the next is part of a deductible business trip. If a single trip has both elements, keep a record that separates the segments. The publication’s test for the trip is the same one that governs mileage: Figure B on local transportation, where travel between home and a regular job is never deductible, but travel between a regular job and a temporary location, between two jobs, or between a home office that is your principal place of business and another work location, can be.

Travel away from home overnight

For trips away from your tax home overnight, Table 1-1 in chapter 1 lets you deduct operating and maintaining your car, including business-related tolls and parking, with actual expenses or the standard mileage rate. If you rent a car while away on business you deduct only the business-use portion. For Armed Forces reservists traveling more than 100 miles from home, the adjustment to income is limited to the federal per diem and the standard mileage rate, plus any parking fees, ferry fees and tolls.

What you cannot deduct

Fines you pay or collateral you forfeit for traffic violations are not deductible; the publication’s words are traffic violations, so the safe approach is to keep a ticket out of the parking line. Parking for personal errands, a personal commute and a parking spot you pay for at your workplace are out. Employees who are not in one of the four groups that can still use Form 2106 cannot claim unreimbursed parking or tolls; see that page for who can. Your employer can reimburse them under an accountable plan, and that reimbursement is not taxable when the three rules are met.

Records you need

The publication says to keep records of each separate expense: the cost, date and business destination, plus the business purpose. A parking or toll expense under $75 does not need a receipt, but you still need the entry, and the log should show date, destination and purpose. See what a mileage log needs to show. For the mileage side of the claim, our mileage deduction calculator multiplies business miles by the current rate.

Worked example

A self-employed designer drives 6,000 business miles of 15,000 total miles, and paid $240 in client-site parking and $85 in tolls on business trips, plus $30 a month to park at a co-working space she regularly works from. Standard mileage: 6,000 times $0.70 is $4,200. Add $240 plus $85, and the total is $4,525. The $360 in monthly fees at the space she regularly works from is commuting-type parking and is not part of the claim. Our figures; the treatment follows the publication.

Sources

• IRS Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses (2025): Chapter 4, Commuting expenses; Parking fees; Standard Mileage Rate (Parking fees and tolls); Actual Car Expenses; Fines and collateral; chapter 1, Table 1-1; chapter 6, Special Rules (Armed Forces Reservists). Read November 2, 2026.

Edition read: Publication 463 (2025), for use in preparing 2025 returns. Rates and dollar limits on this page are the 2025 figures printed in that edition; check the current publication, form instructions and GSA.gov per diem tables for your tax year. This page summarizes the publication and does not replace it.