Home office because of Corona: What can be deducted from the tax?

Home office is becoming an issue for many employees because of the rising corona numbers and increasingly because of the lockdown.

What about the cost?

What is tax deductible?

Hamm -

 office instead of the office: For many employees, work at home was already a common practice in spring 2020 due to the coronavirus *.

In the summer - with stagnating or even falling corona numbers - many employees are likely to have returned to the office.

With the second wave, the topic of

back into focus, as wa.de * reports.

(News about the coronavirus)

Numerous people move back to their home office - or to the temporary kitchen table.

Questions about

are likely to arise: Who bears the costs of working at home?

What is

deductible?

Deduct your home office from tax because of Corona?

Discussion about daily flat rate

Whether in the study, at the dining table, on the couch or in the

corner in the middle of the

the family -

has been

daily bread for many people

since the beginning of the

.

The answer to the question of whether the costs

can be

is currently yes and no at the same time.

However, since a

particularly large number of people are currently working at home

due to the

, Hesse and Bavaria demanded at the end of September that more people can

their

from

- in the form of an uncomplicated

.

The two countries want to campaign for this in the Federal Council.

Home office due to Corona: claim a lump sum of 5 euros per day for tax?

The initiative is primarily about citizens who cannot set up their own study,

but ended up in the

due to

.

They should benefit from a "simple option", as the Bavarian Finance Minister Albert Füracker (CSU) and his Hessian colleague Michael Boddenberg (CDU) announced at the end of September.

The initiative that they want to bring to the Federal Council's Finance Committee provides that

 a

of

be deducted

as

per full day in the 

- a maximum of 600 euros per year, as several media reported.

After all

According to the finance ministers' plans, special requirements in the apartment are not necessary.

They wanted "that the additional costs for

can be claimed

unbureaucratically with

," declared the ministers.

The proposal contributes "to the

" and could "help to pacify the frequent conflicts with the tax office in the current practice with the office costs".

Home office due to Corona: New key issues paper of the Union parliamentary group on tax advantages

The topic of

is

currently a

topic of

due to the increasing

- including on Tuesday, October 27th.

There is now a push from the Union parliamentary group to facilitate mobile working and give

.

A key points paper is understood as an

to plans by

.

In the paper presented on Tuesday by the Working Group on the Future of Work, it says: "Although mobile work is possible for more and more activities, uncertainty about legal issues and economic consequences for both employees and employers prevents an even faster spread."

The paper not only proposes changes to working time regulations, but also deals with

.

For example, the

should be able to

mobile workers

, even if individual elements such as a broadband connection are used privately.

Home office because of Corona: Labor Minister wants to enshrine the law in law

In addition, so-called

promoted and gaps in accident insurance

closed when employees

work from home.

The working group's paper has not yet been voted within the CDU / CSU parliamentary group.

Heilmann said there was great consensus in the parliamentary group, but there was still a need for advice on individual points.

Labor Minister 

 (SPD), on the other hand, wants - also as a result of the Corona experiences from the spring - a legally anchored

The Union rejects that.

The CDU member of the Bundestag

spoke on Tuesday of major conceptual differences to the SPD.

Heilmann therefore does not expect a solution in this legislative period, i.e. until the

in autumn 2021. Many regulations are also intended for the "

".

That, in turn, is unlikely to meet with enthusiasm among many employees who work at home because of the pandemic.

Home office due to Corona: What is currently tax-deductible?

But what is the situation like so far?

Can you

set off

a

?

What about the costs for office equipment, telephone and internet connections?

We give an overview here:

"When it comes to the cost of a

, the case law is clear," said Uwe Rauhöft from the Federal Association of Wage Tax Aid Associations (BVL) in Berlin in spring 2020 of the

.

What is

recognized and what is not recognized

in the

in the

, there are

pretty rigid rules

for this, even apart from

.

Home office because of Corona: when a study can be tax deductible - and when not

The Federal Fiscal Court (BFH) decided in 2016 that expenses for "a room integrated into the domestic sphere, a not inconsiderable part of which is also used privately"

should not be

taken into account

in the

as

or

(file number: XR 32 / 11).

The

does not

accept

a desk in the walk-through room, the work corner in the living room or the laptop on the kitchen table - how many people

made it possible to work at home

because of

.

is therefore not equal to the home office.

Home office: deduct your study from the tax?

Only under these conditions

The

only

recognized for tax

if it is a

is

and is almost

.

As a rule of thumb, according to Rauhöft:

should be about

in the home office and 10 percent may be private.

It also has

yet nothing changed.

The taxpayers' association also made an

explanatory statement

during the first

.

If you can prove that there is no other job available for the job, up to 1250 euros per year can be

as income-related

expenses.

For some people,

at least the method of choice regardless of Corona.

If the home

even the focus of the professional activity, the costs can be

in full

from the

as business

.

Usually this is only the case with freelancers.

Home office due to Corona: deduct rent, energy costs and much more from tax?

In the

are of course other costs: If the requirements are met, the expenses for rent, energy costs, property tax, insurance, garbage disposal fees or the chimney sweep

can be claimed proportionally

in the

.

Ruhr24.de * has summarized tips on how to save electricity in the home office.

Anyone who has set up a study in their own house or condominium can also claim the loan interest attributable to the study for tax purposes.

or not - that should be an option for some people.

"The decent costs are based on the ratio of the area of ​​the study to the total living space," said

.

For example, if the study makes up 20 percent of the living space, 20 percent of the costs incurred can also be deducted from tax.

Home office due to Corona: Furnishing of the study and work corner tax-deductible

However, expenses for

can be taken into account in full.

Good to know: Even if more than one person a home office for the

use, anyone can make of them his expenses as business expenses or business expenses.

Anyone who has

only set up a work

- for

- can

all these costs

.

According to

the taxpayers' association

, only work equipment, such as computers, desks or office

effect

.

If the item cost less than 800 euros net, it can be

deducted

from

directly in the year of purchase

.

More expensive work equipment has to be written off over several years - depending on the useful life of the object.

Home office due to Corona: used your own telephone and internet connection?

Remember this when filing your tax return

Anyone who

now also

uses

their own

for business matters in the

during

also

part of the expenses.

Employees can claim 20 percent of the respective monthly statement, but a maximum of 20 euros per month, as

related

expenses in the

return

.

Alternatively, employers can also reimburse the costs tax-free.

Check out this post on Instagram

Many of us moved from the editorial offices to the home office.

It will certainly look the same for you!

From the improvised desks on the ironing board, the sun terrace, the "finally I can work on the sofa", from the study that has never been used and from all the cats that can finally lie on your keyboard eight hours a day: We want to read and see how you are doing in your home office.

Send us photos and your experiences.

And: Do you have any tips for us newbies on how to best cope with the time spent working at home?

A post shared by Westfälischer Anzeiger (@ wa.hamm) on Mar 24, 2020 at 12:00 PM PDT

Corona

has in terms of

naturally requires quick action.

But if you do not have or have not had the opportunity to quickly

convert

your laundry room, pantry or storage room into a

, you should not be discouraged.

The

for the study can also be

claimed

in the

the coming year.

Home office due to Corona: Employees should prepare for tax returns

Workers who now because of

necessarily in the 

 work should, for the 

to prepare.

Already in the first pandemic peak phase, the advice from the taxpayers' association was to take photos of the work situation .

Employees

should also get a certificate from their employer stating the period in which their job in the company was not available and therefore had to work in the home office, advised the United Wage Tax Aid Association (VLH).

Home office due to Corona: think twice about what can be deducted from the tax

A record of when and how the home workplace was used can also

help

with documentation for the

in the coming year.

"The more detailed the records and the evidence, the greater the chances that the tax authorities will recognize the expenses," explained the VLH.

All in all, it is worthwhile to think again about the costs

that can be

from the

home office.

It is also very questionable how Corona - and the associated home office - affects the mental health of Germans.

There are also new study results reported.

In

any case, the situation is getting worse when it comes to

.

Chancellor

would like to discuss the current development of the pandemic with the Prime Minister on Wednesday, October 28th.

The situation is "dramatic".

There is a "lockdown light" * in the room.

The drugstore chain

meanwhile offers a corona antibody test for at home.

The test is intended to prove a previous infection * - and is only useful to a limited extent.

- *

List of rubric lists: © Sebastian Gollnow / dpa / picture alliance