SteuerGo FAQs

(2022) When is no other workplace available?

If no other workplace is available for your business or professional activity, you can claim a home office for tax purposes and deduct home office costs up to 1.250 Euro as business expenses.

An "other workplace" is only considered as such if it is:

• Suitable for office work and accordingly equipped, and
• Available for you to use in the specifically required scope and manner.

(1) If you have only one professional activity, it must be checked whether an - existing - other workplace is actually available for all areas of this employment. You are also dependent on the home office if you have to perform a significant part of your work there. It is required for an "other workplace" that you can access a workplace for the necessary office work at any time.

This applies for example to teachers: They do have a workplace, namely the school or classroom, but this workplace is not suitable for office work. Therefore, teachers do not have an "other workplace" for this reason alone. In addition, the workplace cannot be used for a specific part of their job - namely lesson preparation and follow-up. Therefore, teachers can easily claim a home office up to 1.250 Euro.

(2) If you have multiple professional or business activities, it must be checked separately for each of these activities whether another workplace is available for the respective activity. If you cannot use the other workplace for just one activity, you may deduct a home office up to 1.250 Euro as business expenses according to the proportion of use for this activity.

The Hessian Finance Court has ruled that an employee also has a workplace at their employer's premises if it is only a so-called pool workplace, meaning the employee does not have their own desk but is assigned a different one each morning. This is also known as "desk sharing" (judgment of 30.7.2020, 3 K 1220/19). The situation is different if an employee cannot use their other workplace in the specifically required scope and manner. Indications can arise from both the nature of the workplace itself (size, location, equipment, etc.) and the conditions of use (employment terms, availability of the workplace or access to the building, etc.). Example: Only three workplaces are available for eight employees (BFH judgment of 26.2.2014, VI R 37/13).

 

During the corona years, countless employees were sent to home office. Different situations were encountered - some were "forced" to work from home, others were given the choice to work in the employer's office or from home, and others had to coordinate with colleagues as only one person could be in the office at a time. But how should the costs for the home office be considered?

If you work partly at home and partly at the office, the following applies regarding the home office:

• Three days home office: If you work at home three days a week, it depends on whether the work in the office and home office is of equal quality: If so, the home office is the "centre", and the costs are fully deductible. If the work in the office is of higher quality, the home office cannot be the centre. Then a deduction of up to 1.250 Euro is possible, as no other workplace is available on the three home working days (BFH judgment of 23.5.2006, VI R 21/03). During the corona period, most tax offices assume without further checks that the work in the office and home office is of equal quality.
• Two days home office: If you work at home only two days a week, it depends on whether the workplace in the office could also be used during this time: If the use is neither restricted nor prohibited, a deduction is not possible. However, if the use of the workplace in the office is excluded on the home working days (e.g. because it is used by another employee or the employer has prohibited its use), the "other workplace" cannot be used in the specifically required scope and manner. Therefore, costs for the home office up to 1.250 Euro are deductible as business expenses (BFH judgment of 26.2.2014, VI R 40/12).