Can I Claim Homeoffice-Pauschale (Home Office) as a Business Expense in Germany?
Yes — Germany allows a flat-rate home office deduction of €6 per day worked from home, up to a maximum of €1,260 per year (210 days). No separate study room is required. Alternatively, actual costs of a dedicated room can be claimed if it is exclusively used for work.
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What Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) & Finanzämter says
§4 Abs. 5 Nr. 6b EStG (Homeoffice-Pauschale, introduced 2020, made permanent from 2023). The flat rate is €6/day up to 210 days.
When you can claim
- Any day you work exclusively from home — applies even without a dedicated home office room
- Part-day home working counts as a full home-office day if no other workplace was used that day
- Actual costs (rent, utilities, heating) for a room used exclusively and permanently as a home office (Arbeitszimmer), up to unlimited deduction if the home office is the primary workplace
When you cannot claim
- Days when you also visited a business premises, client, or co-working space — those days cannot also be claimed as home-office days under the Pauschale
- Home office costs above €1,260/year under the flat-rate method — must switch to actual cost method for higher claims
- Rooms that are not exclusively used for work (e.g., a kitchen table) under the actual-cost method
Good to know
Pro tip: Track your home-office days in a calendar app throughout the year. If your total home-working days exceed 210 but your actual room meets the Arbeitszimmer test (used exclusively for work, the main workplace), switch to the actual-cost method which has no cap.
Important: The €1,260 cap is per taxpayer — for sole traders claiming as a Betriebsausgabe and employed individuals claiming as Werbungskosten, the same cap applies. Spouses working from home can each claim up to €1,260.
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