Parking, tolls and what is deductible
Parking charges and tolls on business journeys are deductible, and they can be claimed on top of the mileage rate. Fines are not, ever. That includes parking tickets, bus lane penalties and speeding fines, however unavoidable the ticket felt at the time.
Correct for the 2026/27 tax year. Last checked 12/09/2026.
Urban delivery generates parking tickets. Every driver knows it and most assume the tax system makes some allowance for it. It does not.
The line
| Cost | Deductible? | On top of mileage? |
|---|---|---|
| Pay and display, or a car park | Yes, on business journeys | Yes |
| Tolls and bridge charges | Yes, on business journeys | Yes |
| Congestion charge | Yes, on business journeys | Generally treated as yes |
| Parking fine or penalty charge notice | No | No |
| Bus lane or box junction penalty | No | No |
| Speeding fine | No | No |
| Clamping or removal fee | No | No |
The fines problem
A driver doing forty drops a day in a city will collect tickets. There is no version of the job that avoids it entirely, and the tax system does not recognise that. A £70 ticket costs £70, with no relief, and at basic rate that is the same as losing about £98 of turnover.
Which makes tickets a genuine business cost worth managing rather than absorbing.
- Appeal them. A meaningful share of penalty charge notices are cancelled on appeal, and the appeal is free.
- Pay within the discount window if the appeal fails, which usually halves it.
- Track them. A driver who knows they cost £900 last year makes different decisions from one who does not.
- Treat a repeatedly ticketed area as a cost of that area, and price the work accordingly.
Recording them anyway
Log fines even though they are not deductible. They are a real cost of the work and they belong in your real hourly rate even when they do not belong on the tax return. That is a genuine difference between the two figures and it is worth keeping straight.
Sources
Common questions
- Can I claim a parking fine?
- No. Fines and penalties are not deductible, on the principle that the tax system does not subsidise breaking the law. That applies even where the fine was effectively unavoidable to do the job.
- Can I claim parking I paid for?
- Yes, where the journey was for the work, and it can be claimed on top of the mileage rate because it is not a cost of running the vehicle.
- What about tolls and bridge charges?
- Deductible on business journeys, and claimable alongside the mileage rate rather than instead of it, because a toll is a cost of the particular journey rather than a cost of running the vehicle.
- What if my employer or platform reimburses a fine?
- A reimbursement is income to you and the fine is still not deductible, so you end up taxed on the reimbursement with no matching deduction.
- Are congestion and clean air charges the same as tolls?
- Closer to tolls than to running costs, and commonly claimed that way. The position is less settled than for parking, so if the amounts are large, get it confirmed.
About the author
Issac Davies, Founder of JoltMile
Issac Davies drives for gig apps in the UK and built JoltMile to show drivers what a shift actually pays once fuel, insurance and tax come off. Every guide here is checked against HMRC and gov.uk guidance, and is information rather than tax advice.
Track this automatically
Expenses: the JoltMile app works this out from your own shifts. Your first 10 shifts are free.
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Record keeping, and how long to keep it
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