Can nurses claim parking on tax?

The short answer

No, nurses can't claim parking at or near their regular workplace, including the hospital staff car park, because the ATO treats it as a private cost of getting to work. You can claim parking fees you pay on a work-related trip, such as parking at a training venue for required CPD or outside a patient's home on a community visit.

The dividing line is the same one that applies to car travel. Getting yourself to your usual workplace is private. Travelling in the course of your work is not. The three golden rules also apply. You paid the fee yourself and weren't reimbursed, it relates directly to earning your income, and you have a record.

Why hospital staff parking is private

Parking where you usually work puts you in a position to start your shift. It is not part of doing the work. That is why the ATO says you can't claim a deduction for parking at or near a regular place of work. It doesn't matter how expensive the hospital car park is.

The result is the same whether you pay at the boom gate, through a permit deducted from your pay or at a private car park down the road. It is the same when you start at 6.30 am, finish a night shift, or are called in while on standby. The ATO's travel guidance uses a registered nurse on standby as an example of a trip that stays private.

You can have more than one regular workplace. If you are rostered at one campus on Mondays to Wednesdays and another on Thursdays and Fridays, both are regular workplaces. Parking at either is private.

When parking can be deductible

Parking fees are deductible when you pay them on a trip made in the course of your work. For nurses, that usually means somewhere other than your normal workplace.

The ATO's own nursing example shows the contrast. A nurse parks every day in the secure car park next to his hospital, and that parking is private. Twice a year he drives to a training facility for CPD required by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia and pays to park there without reimbursement. That parking can be claimed because it is part of a work-related trip.

• Parking at a training facility for CPD your role requires.
• Parking at another campus or facility you are sent to for a meeting, in-service or one-off shift, where it is not one of your regular workplaces.
• Parking outside patients' homes during community, district or home care visits.
• Parking at a conference venue or seminar related to your nursing work.

Travelling between two workplaces

Driving directly between two workplaces on the same day, for example from a public hospital shift to an agency shift, can be a deductible trip. Parking needs more care. The ATO rule against claiming parking at or near a regular place of work does not make an exception for arriving from another job. So parking at a second workplace that is itself one of your regular workplaces is likely to be treated as private.

Agency and casual nurses should also note the ATO's example of a relief teacher sent to a single school each day. Those trips are treated as ordinary home-to-work travel. Parking at a facility where you work the whole shift is likely to be treated the same way. These situations turn on the facts, so get advice if they apply to you.

Tolls follow the same logic

Tolls on the trip between home and your regular workplace are private, even if you only take the tollway when you are running late for handover. Tolls on a work-related trip, such as driving from your hospital to an off-site training day, can be claimed.

Parking and tolls are not car expenses under the ATO's definition. They are claimed separately and are not included in the cents per kilometre rate.

Salary packaging, novated leases and employer-provided parking

If your employer provides your parking, or you pay for it through a salary packaging arrangement, you haven't paid for it yourself out of your own money, so there is no deduction to claim. Parking at your regular workplace would be private anyway. Fees your employer reimburses are not deductible either.

If you drive a car under a novated lease or salary sacrifice arrangement, you can't claim car running costs because you don't own or lease the car. You can still claim parking and tolls you pay yourself on work-related trips. Our salary packaging guide explains how packaging appears on your income statement.

• Nurse salary packaging and tax explained

Parking fines are never deductible

You can't claim any fine or penalty, including parking and speeding fines. It makes no difference that you were working at the time, that you parked in a loading zone to reach a patient quickly, or that your employer expected you to be there. Parking fines are always a private cost.

Records to keep

Parking is often paid by card, by app or at a meter, so the evidence gets lost easily. The ATO's general rule is that once your total work-related claims are more than $300, you need written evidence, such as a receipt, for your claims. Keeping a record of every work-related parking and toll payment means you don't have to rely on an exception. Keep records for 5 years from the date you lodge.

• Receipts, parking app history or toll account statements showing the date, place and amount.
• A note of why the trip was for work, for example "CPD workshop, off-site training centre" or "home visits, community round".
• Your roster or diary entry for the day, linking the parking to the work trip.
• Whether your employer reimbursed any of it.

Common mistakes

• Claiming the annual cost of a hospital staff parking permit.
• Claiming parking because a shift started early, finished late or had no public transport option.
• Claiming parking or tolls your employer reimbursed.
• Claiming parking fines, including fines received on a work trip.
• Adding parking to a cents per kilometre claim without separate records.

• Nurse tax deductions 2025–26: the full guide
• Travel between hospitals: what nurses can claim

Common questions

The hospital deducts parking from my pay. Can I claim it?

Not if it is parking at your regular workplace. How you pay does not change the fact that it is a private commuting cost.

Can I claim parking when I am called in from standby?

No. The ATO treats being called in while on standby as ordinary travel from home to your regular workplace, so parking there stays private.

Can I claim parking for a mandatory training day away from my hospital?

Generally yes, if you paid for it, weren't reimbursed and the training relates to your current nursing work. Keep the receipt and a note of the course.

Can I claim parking for a car I salary package?

You can't claim the car's running costs under a novated lease, but you can claim parking and tolls you pay yourself on genuine work trips.