If you drive yourself to work like many of do then you are familiar with the costs of parking your vehicle. It can already be enough to just find a decent parking spot if you don’t have a monthly parking pass and then when you add the costs of parking your vehicle you may question why you don’t take the bus. Let’s be honest, nothing beats driving yourself to and from work, especially on cold days where waiting for the bus can seem like you are turning into a frozen Popsicle. Monthly parking can definitely save you a lot of time because you will have a guaranteed spot so you won’t experience the dreadful search each morning looking for the perfect parking space in Ottawa. Additionally, a monthly parking pass in Ottawa can save you a lot of money because short-term parking fees can add up fast and the risk of getting a ticket is really not worth it – this is especially true with the high parking ticket fees in Ottawa.

So you know the benefits of buying a monthly parking pass but the big question is whether or not you can claim your parking fees on your taxes. The answer to whether or not your monthly parking fees are tax deductible really depends on your particular work situation.

In many cases, your monthly parking fees are not tax deductible. However there are some scenarios where you can in fact claim some parking expenses. If you own your own business or are self-employed then you will of course be able to claim any parking expenses when filing your taxes – as long as the parking fees relate to you performing your service or providing your product such as delivery or parking for meetings etc.

In most cases, as a salaried employee you cannot claim monthly (or even short-term parking) parking fees on your taxes. However this is primarily only true for parking at your employers office. This is the important part. If you are a commission-based employee (or receive commission) and you park somewhere other than your employers office than you can claim these expenses when filing your taxes. For example, if you work for a company doing sales and some of your time is spent at the office and some other time is spent driving to customer locations to make sales or perform other work-related functions then you can definitely claim the parking expenses from the time spent everywhere except your office.

Similarly, if you always work at the office as a salaried employee but there are times where you have to take care of some business operations at different locations then you can claim these parking expenditures from your off-site visits.

In order for you to be able to claim these parking fees as an employment expense you must not receive a non-taxable vehicle allowance from your employer and paying for your vehicle and parking expenses must be a condition of your employment. If this sounds like your scenario then you will need to sign and complete a declaration form when filing your taxes regarding the nature of your employment and the conditions of the expenses as part of your job. Ask your accountant or filing company for more information regarding this form and filing these parking costs appropriately.

So in a nutshell, there are many instances where you can in fact claim your monthly parking costs on your taxes however certain conditions need to be met in order for your parking expenses to qualify. The good news is that even if you are unable to claim your parking expenses, you can still find some cost-savings with our monthly parking passes in Ottawa. Just give us a call or submit the form on our website to get your own monthly parking pass for downtown and other areas of Ottawa.