Deduct MacBook as a student from taxes.
July 27, 2021 | 25,00 EUR | answered by Steuerberater Knut Christiansen
Hello!
I am currently employed full-time. If I decide to pursue a computer science degree alongside work and buy a new MacBook Pro for this study, can I deduct these costs from my taxes? Is that correct?
Would I have to declare this as advertising or further education expenses?
Do I have to deduct 33% each year for three years or 20% each year for five years of the purchase price?
What happens if I do not complete the degree and drop out after 1-2 semesters? Can I still deduct the costs?
Thank you for your effort!
Best regards,
Sven Jobst
Good day and thank you for using frag-einen.com!
I would like to provide you with the following information regarding your question.
If you have already completed your initial education, you can claim the costs of your studies as advertising expenses if you expect to generate income from it in the future (e.g. working as a computer scientist). Otherwise, a deduction of up to 6,000 EUR per year would be possible within the framework of special expenses.
You can already claim the purchase of the MacBook as an expense in full within one year as of January 1, 2021 (see also: https://www.haufe.de/steuern/finanzverwaltung/geaenderte-nutzungsdauer-von-computerhardware-und-software_164_537792.html).
Therefore, a purchase in the year of acquisition would generally have a full impact. However, you would need to provide credible evidence to the tax office that you use the MacBook almost exclusively for your studies and not for personal use. If you cannot provide this proof, the tax office will usually only recognize 50% of the costs.
If you were to discontinue your studies, the costs claimed up to that point would remain advertising expenses. However, after completing your studies, you would not be able to claim any more costs because the professional connection would then be missing.
I hope this answers your question, otherwise feel free to ask additional questions free of charge.
I would like to point out that this forum cannot replace a comprehensive and personal tax consultation, but is mainly intended to provide an initial tax assessment. Adding or omitting relevant information could lead to a different legal assessment of your issue.
Kind regards,
Knut Christiansen
Tax Advisor
