Home office flat rate - all data & facts at a glance

In 2020, 2021, and 2022, numerous employees transitioned to working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, many people were unprepared for this and didn't have a dedicated home office – often, the couch, dining table, or another corner of the room had to suffice. Previously, home office expenses were not tax-deductible as more conditions had to be met – this changes with the home office lump sum.

This was approved by the federal government at the end of 2020 and is still being adjusted – in this article, we'll look at everything you need to know about the home office lump sum.

Why does the home office lump sum exist?

First, we want to look at why the home office lump sum exists and who exactly benefits from it. Fundamentally, it's meant to relieve employees who, if they didn't work from home permanently, previously received no benefits and couldn't claim any expenses for tax purposes. This is because certain conditions had to be met for a home office:

No other workplace: If, as an employee, you have no other workplace than your desk in the home office, you can claim expenses for tax purposes.

The costs also had to not exceed certain limits.

This was changed at the end of 2020 to relieve taxpayers. Now, expenses can be claimed per day, but the annual total is capped. We'll take a closer look at how much money you can claim in the following paragraphs.

What are the advantages of working from home?

The home office lump sum is intended to encourage more people to work from home – this has many advantages, both for companies and for employees. To help you better understand why you too should work from home, we'd like to briefly look at some key advantages in this paragraph.

For the employer, many employees also mean significant savings. Expensive offices don't have to be rented, and there are no heating and electricity costs. Studies have also shown that people working from home are more productive and motivated than in a company office. The number of sick days is also generally significantly lower for employees working from home, which saves the employer high costs.

For employees, working from home has these advantages:

• Better work-life balance
• Lower transport costs
• More time for hobbies & children
• More productive work as many people feel more comfortable here
• More motivation on long days
• Flexible working hours, often through flextime

If you'd like to learn more about various topics related to home office and remote work, feel free to visit the Deskspace website. Under the Blog menu item, you'll find many more texts that get straight to the point.

Home Office Lump Sum – All the numbers you should know

The home office lump sum is intended to relieve you as a taxpayer – there are fixed amounts that you can deduct for each day you work from home. We'll look at exactly how high these are and why things are changing for 2023 in this paragraph.

With the home office lump sum, you can claim five euros for each day you worked from home in 2020, 2021, and 2022. However, it is capped at 600 euros per year in these years, meaning 120 working days. If you worked more days from home, you cannot claim any further costs here.

This home office lump sum is included in the income-related expenses lump sum (employee lump sum for advertising costs). For the tax years 2020, 2021, and 2022, this is 1,000 euros per calendar year. So, if you exceed this amount, you can save even more taxes, as it is deducted from your income.

Changes to the Home Office Lump Sum from 2023

Until now, the home office lump sum was temporary – that changed in 2023. Since this year, it has been permanently enshrined in tax law, and some adjustments have been made. You can now claim six euros per working day in your own home, up to a total of 1,260 euros per calendar year. The number of days thus remains the same as in previous years, at 120.

Important: The new, increased home office lump sum can only be claimed with the tax return for 2023. Furthermore, it will continue to be included in the employee lump sum.

Apprentices and students can also claim the home office lump sum – either as income-related expenses or special expenses, depending on the case. This applies to all days on which you learn from home and do not go to university, the library, or vocational school.

The only important thing is that you can prove on which days you actually only worked at home. For this, we recommend creating a precise study plan, for example, in your calendar. The reason for this is that universities can at most confirm participation in seminars and the like. How much time you spent on preparation or studying is irrelevant. As soon as you have worked exclusively from home, this counts as a study day and can be claimed for tax purposes.

Can I also claim the commuting allowance in addition? Yes, that is also possible. For example, if you don't have a desk for paperwork in your company. This often applies to teachers, for example. In this case, they can deduct significantly higher income-related expenses.

Conclusion on the Home Office Lump Sum

The home office lump sum is intended to relieve employees and is regularly adjusted. In the future, it will probably be increased further so that you can actually claim all days of the year. Students and apprentices can also claim this lump sum in their tax return and thus benefit from tax advantages. As a student or apprentice, just make sure you document your home office days precisely, should the tax office want to see proof – then you'll be on the safe side.

By the way: Would you like to have a high-quality and healthy workplace in your home office too? Then feel free to visit the Deskspace website, where you'll find height-adjustable desks in numerous designs, as well as ergonomic sitting and standing stools for a healthy back posture.