Tax tip: you can deduct costs for a home office for tax purposes

The Corona-crisis requires all of us much, but the increased Work in the home office can also be worthwhile – for example, financially. The daily cost for the home office tax deductions: Sounds good, is it? Not everyone is aware that the right work from home a real Chance at tax savings will be opened. (Also read: home office due to Corona: So they organize themselves properly)

home office tax deductions: There are strict provisions

The fully equipped office in the company building during the Corona pandemic is not accessible, and therefore non-working devices such as the PC, telephone, printer, and other work materials apply. This must be arranged with the conditions in the home office, and have a professional Workspace to be set up. By far not everyone who works from home, has a private office and so are the costs for new purchases and a more frequent presence in the own apartment extra, the days were established in previous work.

As to the question of how exactly the tax office to certain conditions, for tax relief are for many. What you can deduct and what are the requirements for it?

The home office has a separate room doing his

those Who do the Work only temporarily, from home, this is usually at the dining table, at the Desk in the living room or in a small makeshift work area. However, the law does not count according to the current control and thus most of the workers go home empty handed.

Because the provisions of the tax authorities is as follows: The employee must be able to produce in his own four walls exclusively for professional purposes, used space. In this work the room separately to all the other rooms of the living area – i.e. not a passage room, not a hallway niche or open gallery. Tax expert Matthias Hiller of the SRH district College declared to the German press Agency, that “workers [..] evidence, however, [must] that your employer has arranged to Work from home”

How much to be deducted, depends on the type of use from

Only a few taxpayers, all professional costs incurred in unlimited amounts permitted to perform in your tax return. Therefore, the following applies: a Represents the separate rooms of the centre of the professional activity, such as, for example, in the case of writers and freelance journalists, all costs incurred can be deducted as advertising costs. In the case of Work for which the home office used only partly for professional purposes – as in the case of teachers, insurance brokers and foreign service employees can be taken into account, a maximum amount of 1,250 euros per year for tax purposes.

This is also true when professionals, married couples, registered partners or WG-Partner, a work share rooms. Because both partners are allowed to deduct up to € 1,250 in taxes. Only the Amount, not more depends on the room size, but the number of people that do work there, decided by the Federal fiscal court (At. VI R 53/12).

The tax relief depends on many factors

In practice, the (in simplified Form) as follows: The rent for 100-square meter apartment for one month is € 1,000, the home office is 20 square metres in size. Who is working on two months from home, you can specify 400 Euro tax-deductible. Hiller declared that the actual deductible amount is, however, charge very individually, since it depends, in addition to the actual working hours and the spatial size of the personal tax rate.

claim the payroll tax help: the work area should while Corona be recognized

workers with no possibility of an extra work room and in their private living spaces need to work, to go so far empty. Therefore, Germany’s largest wage tax help Association – United wage tax help e. V. (VLH), and that the actual costs incurred for alternative work corners, especially in times of Corona, the tax to be taken into account. So according to requirement, the Federal government and the Ministry of Finance should accept the proportionate costs for rent, electricity, telephone and self-financed office furniture and materials for the work area.

home office deduct: 4 tips for employee

with or without the extra room to work: get a written certificate from the employer, in which it is listed, over what period of time you work from home, and that this happens involuntarily

a tax expert Matthias Hiller also recommends the workplace to hold on images: “the photos must be clear, it is, in fact, a work room, and no personal belongings, no bed or no couch is available.“ In addition, he advises the document to send images to the professional email address, because then you also have a time-proof that the room was already set up at this time.

Document your working hours in the Form of a table with date and number of working hours

Archive all invoices, for example, for printing paper, office materials, and increased costs for electricity and telephone

the more detailed the listing, the greater is the Chance that you can deduct over the tax offices, the costs for the home office tax. (Also interesting: the Home Office in times of Corona: 7 tips to help you stay mentally and physically fit)

This article from (Nadja Unterberger)

*The post “tax tip: As you can deduct costs for a home office for tax purposes” was written and published by GQ. Contact with the executives here.

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