An Exhaustive List of Truck Driver Tax Deductions You Can Claim

Truck driver tax deductions can be used to lower the taxable income of owner-operators, contract truck drivers, and self-employed truck drivers significantly—helping you save money come tax time. On your tax return, you can claim the standard deduction or itemize deductions using Schedule C, specifying your actual job-related costs for the past tax year. 

Remember that you'll need to keep receipts to claim tax deductions on your tax return and can't claim any expense for which you were reimbursed or that was not necessary for your job. As long as you can substantiate them, these common tax deductions will get you off to a great start!

Fuel Tax and Licensing Fees

Truckers can deduct any fees, licenses, and use taxes that are required to do their job. This includes:

• Business permits

• Commercial driver's license

• Heavy Highway Vehicle Use Tax

Required Insurance Premiums

Insurance premiums that you are required to pay for your trucking business are also tax deductible on your return. This includes:

• Cargo insurance

• Commercial auto liability

• Property damage insurance

If you have a private health insurance policy for you and any dependents, you can claim that as a tax deduction, too. However, as it's not a job-related expense, you'll claim it separately on Schedule 1 Form 1040. If you need guidance on claiming the right deductions on the right forms, a trucking accountant can provide up-to-date advice.

Vehicle Expenses

If you're an owner-operator, you can claim vehicle expenses as tax deductions. This includes things like:

• Registration

• Loan interest

• Depreciation

• Maintenance

• Servicing

• Repairs

• Tires

• Washing

Please note that you can't claim your own time as a deduction if you perform repairs yourself. However, you can claim labor and parts costs if the repairs are performed by somebody else.

Equipment and Tools

Truck drivers are required to have several tools and pieces of necessary equipment to keep their vehicles up and running. You can usually claim all of the following as truck driver tax deductions:

• Chains

• Ratchet straps

• Tarps

• Duct tape

• Bungee cords

• Flat jaw vise grips

• Tire irons

• Air gauge or hose

• Oil

• Windshield washer fluid

• Fire extinguisher

• Ice scraper

Personal Protective Equipment

Regular clothing items can't be claimed as truck driver tax deductions. However, you can claim special safety gear. If you are required to wear goggles, safety gloves, a back brace, or HAZMAT protective clothing, you can go ahead and claim these items as deductions on your tax return.

Truck-Related Personal Expenses

Items that you need to have in your truck and use exclusively for work purposes are counted as business expenses and are tax deductible. This includes communication devices like a cell phone, CM radio, and computer (plus internet and data fees), GPS, and accessories such as a:

• Logbook

• Alarm clock

• Flashlight

• Bedding

• Cleaning supplies

• Cooler or minifridge

• Maps

• Gloves

• Sunglasses

If you use your computer or cell phone for work as well as personal use, you can claim the percentage of the cost of the device that corresponds to the percentage of time you use it for work.

Office Expenses

Office supplies that you use for running your trucking business are deductible at tax time. This includes:

• Stationary such as envelopes, pens, pencils, paper, and staples

• Desk and desk chair

• Calculators

• Faxing and printing

• Accounting software

Meal Expenses

Long-distance drivers can deduct meals if they are away from their business headquarters (their tax home) for one or more nights. Local drivers can't claim meals because they can go home and eat at the end of their shift. 

When claiming meals, you can save your receipts and claim your actual meal expenses, or you can use the per diem method. The per diem allowance is a special standard meal allowance that can be claimed for each eligible day. The rate varies by region to allow for variations in price. For example, the rate for Jacksonville, Florida is $59 per day for 2022. You can search rates by destination on the General Services Administration website.

What Percentage of Meal Expenses Can Be Claimed?

According to the Federal Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (FCAA), long-distance truck drivers can claim 100% of food and beverages purchased from restaurants in 2021 or 2022. Truck drivers using the per diem method can treat the full meal portion of the allowance as being attributable to food and beverages purchased from a restaurant.

How Is Your Tax Home Determined?

Your tax home or business headquarters, for the purpose of claiming tax deductions on meals, is either the location of the head office or your personal address (in the case of owner-operators who keep their trucks at home).

If you have been relocated temporarily to another city or region, this is considered your "tax home" for that time. Meals and lodging won't be tax deductible in this case because you can cook and do laundry at your temporary accommodation. 

Travel Expenses

If you are required to be away from your tax home for one or more nights, you can claim your hotel or lodging costs as well as the costs of showering and doing laundry. In addition, all truck drivers (including local drivers) can deduct tolls and parking fees as business expenses. 

Medical Exams

Truck drivers are often required to take routine medical exams to show that they are fit for work. As long as you keep your receipts, you can claim these costs as tax deductions. Other medical expenses that you incur outside of work are not considered job-related expenses. However, you can claim qualified unreimbursed medical expenses if you itemize your deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040).

Professional Expenses

As a self-employed truck driver, you can claim the following costs as tax deductions:

• Association dues if you are a member of a trucking association or union

• Subscriptions to publications that are relevant to trucking

• Education and training expenses that help you with your trucking business

Expenses You Can't Deduct

Just as it's important to know what you can deduct, it's equally as important to know what you can't deduct as a trucking business expense. Trying to claim too many deductions could trigger an IRS audit, and you could end up paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars in penalties and interest.

Expenses that are not tax deductible include:

• Expenses that have already been reimbursed by your employer

• Clothing that you can use for everyday wear

• The cost of commuting from your home to the truck yard

• Your home phone line

• Time that you spend working on your vehicle

• Downtime

• Income lost due to unpaid mileage (you can still deduct costs relating to fuel, tolls, and scales for unpaid miles)

• Any expenses incurred as a company driver (as your employer covers these costs)

• Non-work-related expenses

Optimize Your Truck Driver Tax Deductions

When it comes to legitimate business expenses incurred as a truck driver, the IRS is very reasonable—it doesn't tax you on the money you have to spend in order to do your job. However, in order to use truck driver tax deductions to their full advantage, meticulous record-keeping is a must. 

As you go, keep all of your receipts and records in order (never throw them out!), follow these tips for easier bookkeeping, and consider getting a small business bookkeeper to log and file your business expenses for you. 

Once tax season rolls around, you will be able to claim your actual expenses as deductions with confidence and enjoy a significant (and well-deserved!) reduction in your adjusted gross income for the previous tax year.