'Home Office in Germany: how to claim work-from-home expenses on your tax

If you work from home in Germany, part of your expenses can be included in your tax return as Werbungskosten or Betriebsausgaben. The main options are the fixed Home-Office-Pauschale for days worked at home and a separate deduction for a häusliches Arbeitszimmer if your home office meets the tax requirements.

What kinds of expenses apply when you work from home

The tax logic is simple: the expenses must be connected to earning income and must not already have been reimbursed by your employer. For employees, these amounts usually count as Werbungskosten; for self-employed people and freelancers, they count as Betriebsausgaben.

Working from home can include:

• the fixed daily Home-Office-Pauschale;
• expenses for a separate home office room if it is the center of your professional activity;
• work equipment: computer, monitor, printer, desk, chair, professional literature, and software;
• part of your internet and phone costs if they are used for work;
• trips to your employer, clients, or outside meetings, if they do not overlap with the rules for home office on the same day.

Home-Office-Pauschale: a fixed deduction without a separate room

The Home-Office-Pauschale is suitable for people who work at home but do not have a separate room recognized as a home office. Since 2023, the permanent rule has been 6 euros per day worked at home, up to a maximum of 1,260 euros per year. That corresponds to 210 days.

You do not need a separate room for this flat-rate amount. You can work at a desk, in the kitchen, or in another part of the apartment. The key is to count the days correctly and not claim incompatible expenses at the same time.

When a day can be counted

In a typical situation, a day counts if your main professional activity that day was carried out at home and you did not travel to your main workplace (erste Tätigkeitsstätte). If an employee does not have another permanently available workspace, the rules may be more flexible: the Home-Office-Pauschale can also be counted on days when part of the work was done outside the home.

Because of these nuances, it is better to keep a calendar of workdays and not rely only on memory. If a day includes home, the office, a client, and a business trip, it should be assessed separately.

Home office room: when you can deduct more

A häusliches Arbeitszimmer is not just a corner with a laptop. It is usually a separate room in an apartment or house, separated from the living area and used almost entirely for professional activity.

Since 2023, the full cost of a home office room is generally recognized when the room is the center of all professional or business activity. In that case, you can choose one of two approaches:

• claim the actual share of the room-related expenses;
• use the annual flat amount of up to 1,260 euros if that is more beneficial and fits the conditions.

If the room is not used for the whole year, the flat amount is usually reduced proportionally to the months of use.

How to calculate the share of room expenses

For an actual-cost calculation, you first determine the share of the office room in the total living area:

office room area / total apartment area × 100

For example, if the apartment is 60 square meters and the separate office is 9 square meters, the office share is 15%. That means you can allocate 15% of the relevant housing costs to professional use: rent, heating, electricity, Nebenkosten, and some related expenses.

Office furniture, a computer, and other work equipment are counted separately. They may still qualify as expenses even when there is no separate tax-recognized office room.

If you own the home, the logic is similar, but instead of rent there may be depreciation, loan interest, and other owner-related expenses. Here it is especially important to separate the value of the land from the value of the building and to review the calculation with a tax adviser.

With a mortgage, you may claim only the interest and expenses that actually relate to the professionally used part of the home. For owners, the topic of property tax may also matter.

Work equipment and internet

Work equipment can be claimed separately from the Home-Office-Pauschale. This includes a laptop, monitor, keyboard, office chair, desk, printer, professional software, and specialized literature.

If an item is used both for work and for personal purposes, you usually declare only the professional share in your tax return. Tax practice for computers and peripherals has become simpler, but major purchases are still better supported with invoices and a clear explanation of their business purpose.

Internet and phone costs can be claimed in proportion to their work-related use. If there is no exact calculation, tax software often offers rough estimates, but the Finanzamt can ask for justification.

Home office and trips to the office

For the same day, you cannot mechanically claim everything at once. If you traveled to your main workplace, the Entfernungspauschale for commuting applies, and the Home-Office-Pauschale usually does not apply for that day. If you worked at home and traveled not to the office but to a client or an outside meeting, the situation may be different.

For a transport ticket, the actual connection to work matters. If the ticket is used both privately and professionally, the tax office may recognize only part of the cost. Claiming 100% of the price without a basis is risky.

Which documents to keep

You usually do not have to attach all supporting documents to the tax return right away, but the Finanzamt may request them later. So it is worth keeping:

• a calendar of days worked from home;
• a certificate or confirmation from the employer about home office, if you can get one;
• invoices for equipment, furniture, software, and professional literature;
• the rental agreement, Nebenkostenabrechnung, and bills for electricity and internet;
• the floor plan showing the area of the office room if you are claiming an Arbeitszimmer;
• the calculation of the professional share for mixed expenses.

For utility costs, documents related to utility costs, internet, and electricity are useful.

How to report the expenses on your tax return

You can submit your tax return through ELSTER, tax software, or a tax adviser. The general topic is covered here: filing a tax return in Germany.

For employees, the expenses are usually entered in Anlage N. The line names and field numbers can change from year to year, so it is more reliable to search by the field name such as Homeoffice-Pauschale, Tagespauschale, Arbeitszimmer, or Arbeitsmittel rather than by an old line number.

Before submitting, check three things:

1. Your home-office days do not duplicate days when you traveled to your main workplace.
2. Your employer did not reimburse the same expenses without tax consequences.
3. You have documents that explain the amounts if the Finanzamt asks questions.

Short calculation example

Suppose an employee worked from home for 130 days and is not claiming a separate home office room. Then the Home-Office-Pauschale would be:

Calculation	Amount
130 days × 6 euros	780 euros

If work equipment worth 500 euros was also purchased and is used only for work, the total amount of professional expenses for this part could be 1,280 euros. The tax saving is not equal to that amount: it depends on your personal tax rate and on whether all your Werbungskosten exceed the general Arbeitnehmer-Pauschbetrag.

When it makes sense to get help

A tax adviser is especially useful if you own your home, use the office room partly for mixed purposes, have several employers, combine freelance work with employment, or make major work-related purchases. In simpler cases, a careful calendar, invoices, and a clear calculation in the tax return are enough.