What this line means
Parking fees, tolls, and local transportation costs that are not part of your vehicle expense on line 1. This includes bus, subway, train, rideshare, and ferry fares for business travel. These go in Column A only — they are not meal expenses.
Does this apply to you?
- You paid for parking at a business meeting, client site, or temporary work location
- You paid bridge or highway tolls while driving between business locations
- You took a taxi, rideshare, bus, or train for local business travel
- You are an eligible employee (reservist, performing artist, fee-basis official, or disability-related)
Easy to overlook
Parking at a temporary work location counts If you park at a temporary work site (one where you expect to work less than one year), that parking fee is deductible. Filers often skip small daily parking charges, but they add up fast — $15 per day over 200 workdays is $3,000. Keep your receipts or a log of recurring charges.1 IRS Publication 463 — Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses
Rideshare and taxi fares between job sites Performing artists and fee-basis officials who travel between work locations during the day can deduct those fares here. A $20 Uber from one gig to the next is a business transportation expense, not a personal commute. Filers who use rideshare apps can download annual summaries as documentation.2 IRS Form 2106 Instructions — Line 2
Watch out for this
Do not include daily parking at your regular workplace. Parking at the office where you report every day is a commuting cost, not a deductible business expense. Only parking at temporary locations, client sites, or business meetings qualifies. Mixing in commuting parking is the fastest way to get this line reduced in an audit.
Footnotes
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IRS Publication 463, Travel, Entertainment, Gift, and Car Expenses, Chapter 4. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p463.pdf ↩
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IRS Form 2106 Instructions. https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i2106 ↩