# Can I claim Büromiete (Office Rent) as a business expense in Germany?

**Yes, fully claimable.** Yes: rent for external office space or commercial premises is fully deductible as a Betriebsausgabe under §4 EStG / §8 KStG. Lease costs, service charges, utilities, and office fit-out costs are all deductible in the period incurred. Home office deductions follow separate rules.

Typical amount: German commercial rents vary hugely: Munich prime office ~€30–50/sqm/month, Berlin ~€25–40, regional cities €10–20. A small GmbH office of 50sqm in Frankfurt costs roughly €2,000–€3,500/month including service charges.

## What Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) & Finanzämter says

§4 Abs. 4 EStG: rent paid for business premises as part of income-generating activity is deductible as Betriebsausgabe. No cap on external commercial rent deduction.

## When you can claim

- Monthly rent and service charges on a commercial lease
- Utilities (electricity, gas, water, internet) for a rented commercial office
- Co-working space memberships and hot-desk fees where used for genuine business activity
- Initial fit-out costs: either expensed immediately (if below GWG threshold of €800 net) or depreciated over the lease term or asset life
- Service charges billed on a structured e-invoice that the company can receive

## When you cannot claim

- Rent paid to connected parties (e.g., spouse, family member) above arm's-length market rate: excess may be reclassified
- Capital improvements to a leased property that increase its value: these are capitalised and depreciated, not immediately expensed

## Good to know

**Pro tip:** If using co-working spaces, ensure you get proper Rechnungen with your company's full name and address, not just till receipts. The Finanzamt requires §14 UStG-compliant invoices to claim the Vorsteuer. Many co-working chains issue these automatically but some need prompting.

**Important:** For home-office-based businesses, external office costs and the Homeoffice-Pauschale can coexist: you can deduct external co-working costs on days used plus the €6/day home office rate on days worked exclusively from home. Since 1 January 2025 every business must be able to receive structured e-invoices such as XRechnung or ZUGFeRD, and a plain PDF does not count. Ask the landlord or co-working operator which format the Rechnung will arrive in, so that the Vorsteuer claim is not delayed.

Source: https://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de/Content/DE/FAQ/betriebsausgaben.html

## Related expenses

- [Homeoffice-Pauschale (Home Office)](https://accounts-os.com/de/expenses/home-office-de)
- [GWG und Computer (Equipment and Computers)](https://accounts-os.com/de/expenses/equipment-computers-de)