When is no other workplace available?
If you do not have another permanent office for your professional activity, you can claim the costs for your home office for tax purposes. This applies to both employees and self-employed individuals. You can deduct a daily allowance of 6 euros per day, up to a maximum of 1,260 euros per year. An example of this is teachers who work at school but do not have their own workspace for lesson preparation. In this case, you can also deduct travel expenses to the school in addition to this allowance. It is no longer necessary to have a separate office; a work corner or the kitchen table is sufficient.
In certain cases, another workplace is not permanently available, and the daily allowance can be deducted in principle, even if travel expenses to the company or office are also claimed. For example:
- Teachers do not have their own desk at school for lesson preparation.
- Orchestra musicians have no opportunity to practise in the concert hall. The home is used for this purpose.
- The workplace provided is unusable for health reasons (BFH ruling of 26.2.2014, VI R 11/12, BStBl 2014 II p. 674).
In other cases where another workplace is available but does not meet the requirements of the specific professional activity, the daily allowance can also be deducted. For example, if an IT consultant is on call from home and cannot use the employer's workplace (BFH ruling of 7.8.2003, VI R 41/98, BStBl II 2004 p. 80).
The decision as to whether another workplace is available depends on objective criteria. Subjective opinions do not play a role. The workplace must be usable in the required manner. Another workplace is not available if you regularly cannot use another workplace for only a few days or weeks. In such cases, you can only deduct the daily allowance on days when you actually work from home and do not visit another workplace.
If you have several professional activities, the conditions for deducting the daily allowance must be checked separately for each activity. The daily allowance can only be deducted once per day, regardless of how many activities you perform.
It is important to prove that no other workplace is available for the respective activity. A corresponding certificate from the employer can be helpful here.
The daily allowance cannot be deducted if costs for a home office or the annual allowance for an office have already been deducted. The record-keeping requirements for a home office do not apply to the deduction of the daily allowance.
