Double household management as a self-employed person
January 6, 2010 | 30,00 EUR | answered by Oliver Burchardt
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am a self-employed graphic designer and have a small design office in Hannover. Due to clients such as the "Stadt Hannover" or "Hannover Marketing", I am professionally bound to this city. Privately, I have moved to Berlin and have also been able to make initial contacts with companies and have already received one or two orders. I am still registered in Hannover, living in a 62 sqm apartment with a subtenant, and work from Monday to Thursday in a shared office. On Fridays, I work from my apartment in Berlin, where I am also the main tenant (55 sqm) and share it with another subtenant.
As a self-employed individual, what expenses can I deduct most effectively?
Does it make sense to change my registration, even though the apartment in Berlin is slightly smaller? Can the trips from residence A to B also be deducted? If I were to rent another workspace in Berlin, could I also include that?
Thank you for your response!
Kind regards,
R. H.
Dear inquirer,
Thank you for your inquiry, which I am happy to answer as part of an initial consultation.
Please note that the tax assessment is based on the information provided. Adding, changing, or omitting information can affect the tax assessment.
Renting an additional office in Berlin leads to further operating expenses, which are fully tax-deductible.
The costs of a second household are not deductible according to the wording of the law, but the guidelines for income tax in R 4.12 Para. 3 state that the regulations in the LStR are to be applied accordingly.
Therefore, you can claim the expenses for the apartment at your second residence in Hannover as tax-deductible if you can prove that your main place of residence is in Berlin and you maintain the apartment in Hannover for business reasons only. Registering the apartment in Berlin as your main residence is certainly an indication of your main place of residence.
You can deduct the travel between the residences (but only for one trip home per week) and between the apartment in Hannover and your office there as operating expenses.
Based on the information you provided, stating that the second household is due to a move, the decisions of the Federal Fiscal Court this year (ref. VI R 58/06 and ref. VI R 23/07) are of particular importance to you, as the court explicitly affirmed that a move can also establish a second household.
I hope that my explanations have been helpful to you.
Best regards,
Oliver Burchardt
Certified Public Accountant
Tax Advisor
