(2022) When can teleworkers claim tax relief for their home office?

With teleworking, employees carry out their work either exclusively from home or alternately partly at home and partly at the company.

(1) If you carry out teleworking exclusively from home, the home office is the centre of all professional activities, and the costs are fully deductible as business expenses.

(2) If you work partly at home and partly at the company, the following applies to the home office:

• If you work three days at home, it depends on whether the work at the company and home office is of equal quality: If this is the case, the home office is also the centre, and the costs are fully deductible. However, if the work at the company is of higher quality, the home office cannot be the centre. Then a deduction of up to 1.250 Euro is possible because "no other workplace is available" on the three home working days (BFH ruling of 23.5.2006, VI R 21/03).
• If you work only two days at home, it depends on whether the workplace at the company could also be used during this time: If the use is neither restricted nor prohibited, a deduction for business expenses is not possible. However, if the use of the workplace at the company is excluded on the home working days (e.g., because it is used by another employee), 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 ruling of 26.2.2014, VI R 40/12).

 

During the corona years, countless employees were sent to the home office. Different situations were encountered - and still are. Some were "forced" to work from home, others were given the choice of working in the employer's office or from home, while others had to coordinate with colleagues regarding the use of the workplace, as only one person was allowed 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 company, the following applies to the home office:

• Three days home office: If you work three days a week at home, it depends on whether the work at the company and home office is of equal quality: If this is the case, the home office is the "centre", and the costs are fully deductible. However, if the work at the company is of higher quality, the home office cannot be the centre. Then a deduction of up to 1.250 Euro is possible because "no other workplace" is available on the three home working days (BFH ruling of 23.5.2006, VI R 21/03). During the corona period, most tax offices assume without further examination that the work at the company and home office is of equal quality.
• Two days home office: If you work only two days a week at home, it depends on whether the workplace at the company could also be used during this time: If the use is neither restricted nor prohibited, a deduction for business expenses is not possible. However, if the use of the workplace at the company 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 ruling of 26.2.2014, VI R 40/12).