(2023) Do you also claim expenses for work-related items?

Many items that you purchase for your job can be deducted from your taxes.

Professional books, software, or work clothing can be considered work-related items, as can computers, printers, or smartphones. However, work-related items are fully deductible only if they are used almost exclusively for work. This doesn't mean you can't send a personal email from your work laptop, but the private usage should not exceed ten percent. Otherwise, you can at least claim a portion of the costs. If you use your smartphone equally for work and private calls, you can claim 50 percent of the purchase price.

The same applies to the desk where you handle both work and private matters. If the price including VAT is up to 800 Euro net, it is considered a "low-value asset". This is beneficial for you, as you can fully deduct the purchase price as business expenses in the year of purchase. For more expensive items, the costs are spread over the entire period of use and must be depreciated annually. The so-called depreciation tables provide further details.

The issue of work clothing is critical. Uniforms that you pay for yourself but can only wear at your workplace are deductible, and you can also claim the cleaning costs – even if you wash the clothes at home in your washing machine. However, for normal suits or costumes, the tax office assumes that they are not work-specific. Even if you otherwise only wear jeans, you cannot deduct your office outfit.

 

Retrospectively from 1 January 2021, there is a particularly advantageous new regulation for computers of all kinds and for software: The Federal Ministry of Finance has very generously determined that the standard service life is generally one year. This means that the purchase costs can now always be fully deducted as business expenses in the year of purchase, regardless of the amount (BMF letter dated 26 February 2021, IV C 3-S 2190/21/10002:013).