(2023)
Can a home office be deducted for rental activities?
Expenses for a home office and its equipment are only fully deductible as business expenses if the home office is the central location for all professional activities. Alternatively, an annual allowance of 1,260 Euro can be claimed. This is at the taxpayer's discretion. If the conditions for the deduction are not met in a given month, the annual allowance is reduced accordingly. However, there must be an actual home office with its own four walls.
In some cases, such as a landlord managing properties, the home office can be deducted as business expenses against rental income, or the allowance can be used.
If no other permanent workplace is available for professional activities, home office costs can be deducted with a daily allowance of 6 Euro per day, up to a maximum of 1,260 Euro per year. A separate home office is not required; even a work corner or the kitchen table is sufficient. The daily allowance can only be claimed once per calendar day for all professional activities in the home.
Example: A bus driver (Z) is also a freelance writer and involved in property rental. As Z has no other permanent workplace for these activities, he can deduct a daily allowance of 6 Euro for each day he carries out these activities from home, up to a maximum of 1,260 Euro per year. Even if Z also works as a bus driver on a given day, the deduction of the daily allowance for the other activities is not affected. Z can allocate the allowance either proportionally to freelance income or rental income, or fully to one of these types of income.
Important: You must prove that no other permanent workplace is available to you for the respective professional or business activity. A corresponding certificate from the employer can be helpful evidence.
