Deductibility of home office / storage room
October 4, 2010 | 30,00 EUR | answered by Oliver Burchardt
I run a psychotherapeutic practice. Can I also deduct a portion of the rent for my apartment as expenses (e.g. as an office, storage room) in addition to the expenses for the practice rent? If so, how much; Do I need to justify this; do they have to be separate rooms/ do I need a separate rental agreement for this...? Thank you for the response.
Dear inquirer,
Thank you for your inquiry, which I am happy to answer as part of an initial consultation.
In general, all expenses that you incur for your business are deductible operating expenses.
This includes expenses for rooms in your rental apartment, if you use these rooms exclusively for professional purposes.
However, it is important to distinguish. If the room in your apartment qualifies as a home office, it is subject to current deduction restrictions, requiring it to be the center of your entire professional activity. Since you operate a psychotherapeutic practice, you may not be able to provide this proof. However, this regulation is currently under legislative review following a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court.
If the room does not serve as a home office, it is not subject to these deduction restrictions, and the entire proportional rental expenses are deductible operating expenses (Federal Fiscal Court decision of 19.3.2003, file no. VI R 40/01).
In order for the proportional rent to be considered, it must be a separate room that can be separated from the rest of the apartment (e.g. a cellar room).
No explanation is required, but it is possible that the tax office may ask you to explain what is stored in these rooms or why you use them for professional purposes during the assessment.
You are also not required to submit a separate lease for the rooms.
I hope that my explanations have been helpful to you.
Sincerely,
Oliver Burchardt
Tax consultant
