Where to enter taxicab gate or medallion lease fee on Schedule C?

May have been quicker just to type the question into google

No, taxi medallion fees and lease payments are not categorized as direct car or vehicle operating expenses on tax returns. Instead, they are treated as separate business, licensing, or intangible asset expenses.

Thanks, Jus-Lisa-Now-! Would you list it on line 10 under commissions and fees, line 20a or line 48 under other expenses? 

Thanks, BobKamman! 
Yes, the question is about driver who pays fee to use taxicab and medallion for a shift. Makes sense, if gate fee is considered part of a lease payment then he can’t deduct it while claiming standard mileage rate! 

If you don’t know about NYC taxi medallions, 

1) You probably aren’t familiar with the legend of famed “fixer” Michael Cohen, who made a fortune investing in them and lost it before being convicted for tax evasion related to his work for his famed employer.

2) You shouldn’t be trying to answer questions about them, because you probably don’t know these licenses sold for more than a million dollars each, a decade ago.   Your Manhattan cabbie, who probably spoke English as a second language, couldn’t afford one.  Instead, he rented it, one shift at a time, along with the vehicle that came with it.  The medallion holder, to earn a 10% return on his investment, needed to collect $100,000 a year, which could be done by charging about $150 per 12-hour shift and adding that amount to the cost of the vehicle itself.  Then Uber and Lyft came along, and regulators couldn’t keep them from taking over the streets without medallions.  

Today, the daily "gate fee" (lease cost) to rent a yellow taxi for a single 12-hour shift in New York City ranges from $105 to $129 for a standard lease, legally capped by the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC). However, the actual out-of-pocket daily cost at a fleet garage typically ranges from $121 to $210 per day once optional collision damage waivers, fuel, and vehicle types (like hybrid or wheelchair-accessible models) are factored in.

An average New York City yellow taxi drives about 180 to 200 miles per day, calculated from an annual total of roughly 70,000 miles per vehicle.  At 76 cents a mile, that’s a $152 deduction.  It’s probably better to deduct the gate fee, plus the $40 for gas that the driver pays.  

NYC is not the only major city where “medallions” are part of the private transportation landscape.  The term is also used in Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Francisco.

Interesting background information on taxi medallions, thanks for sharing! 

You could put it under commissions, or licensing or other expenses, I’d just continue to put them in the same place each year. 

Thanks CHAMP!