(2021) 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 office costs up to 1,250 Euro as business expenses.

An "other workplace" is one that:

• is suitable for office work and is accordingly equipped, and
• you can actually use in the specifically required scope and manner.

(1) If you have only one occupation, 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 carry out a significant part of your work there. It is necessary for an "other workplace" that you can access a workplace for the required 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 the job - namely lesson preparation and follow-up. Therefore, teachers can easily claim a home office up to 1,250 Euro.

(2) If you have several 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 usage share 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 workplace each morning. This is also known as "desk sharing" (judgment of 30.07.2020, 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 (design of the employment relationship, availability of the workplace or access to the building, etc.). Example: Only three workplaces are available for eight employees (BFH judgment of 26.02.2014, VI R 37/13).