Home office allowance: 6 € per day, up to 1,260 € per year

What is the home office allowance?

The home office allowance—referred to in the law as the “daily allowance”—is a fixed amount of €6 for each day on which you work primarily from home. The maximum amount is €1,260 per calendar year, which corresponds to 210 days. It is governed by Section 4(5), sentence 1, item 6c of the Income Tax Act (EStG). For employees, it applies mutatis mutandis under Section 9(5) of the Income Tax Act (EStG).

You don't have to list each item separately for what was incurred on those days. The law specifies a fixed amount for this. The regulation does not require a separate room; the kitchen table is sufficient.

Which days count toward the home office allowance?

Every calendar day counts on which the work is performed primarily at home and no primary place of work located outside the home is visited. Both conditions must be met. “Primarily” means more than half of the actual working time for the day, including travel time. A client meeting therefore does not affect eligibility, as long as the time spent at home predominates; in that case, travel expenses and the daily allowance are paid concurrently. However, four hours for the trip there, the appointment, and the trip back, followed by three hours at home, are not sufficient. Anyone who spent two hours at the office in the morning and then continued working from home has visited a primary place of work on that day.

There is an exception if you do not have access to any other workplace on a permanent basis. In that case, the flat rate is also permitted on days when you work off-site or at your primary place of work (No. 6c, sentence 2). This refers to the situation where there is no workspace outside your home that is permanently available to you. Any workspace is defined as any location suitable for office-style work. You do not need your own private, locked, or permanently assigned space, and the working conditions are irrelevant: even a spot in an open-plan office or one with noise and foot traffic qualifies. The determination is made based on the specific nature of the work.

Working from Home and Commuting: What Are the Rules for the Same Day?

In most cases, the two allowances are mutually exclusive. The commuter allowance applies to days when you travel to your primary place of work. The daily allowance applies to days when you do not do exactly that. Only in exceptional cases—when there is no other workplace—can both allowances apply simultaneously: A teacher who teaches at school in the morning and prepares and reviews lessons at home in the afternoon may claim both the commuter allowance for the commute and the daily allowance if the school does not provide a workspace for preparation and review. No. 6c, sentence 3, excludes the daily allowance to the extent that housing costs can be deducted or a home office is deducted under No. 6b.

This leads to a calculation that isn’t immediately obvious: Every day worked from home replaces a day of commuting. For a 15-kilometer commute, the cost of a commute day in 2026 is exactly €5.70 (15 × €0.38), while a day worked from home costs €6. Starting at 16 kilometers, a commute day in 2026 is worth more, as it amounts to €6.08. In 2025, the threshold was 20 kilometers, because the rate for the first 20 kilometers was €0.30 (20 × €0.30 = €6).

How much is the annual flat rate?

The lump sum is classified as an income-related expense. The employee lump-sum allowance of €1,230 is already included in the payroll tax withholding (Section 9a, Sentence 1, No. 1, Letter a of the Income Tax Act (EStG)). In addition, income-related expenses are only taken into account if the total of all items exceeds €1,230. Thus, €828 is covered by the lump-sum allowance alone. If, in the sample calculation above, a €524.40 commuter allowance from the two days spent in the office is added, the total comes to €1,352.40.

A Home Office Instead of a Flat-Rate Allowance: When Is This Possible?

A home office is generally not tax-deductible. The exception: The room serves as the center of all business and professional activities (Section 4(5), Sentence 1, No. 6b of the Income Tax Act (EStG)). In that case, the actual costs are deductible, or, in lieu of those, an annual flat rate of €1,260. For each full calendar month in which the requirements are not met, the amount is reduced by one-twelfth. You must choose between actual costs and the annual flat rate consistently for the entire year; you may change your choice until the tax assessment notice becomes final. The annual flat rate is available only once per person, even if the person has multiple occupations; in that case, it is divided accordingly.

You cannot have both at the same time. The daily flat rate is excluded if a deduction is made under No. 6b (No. 6c, sentence 3). For self-employed individuals with a home office, everything therefore hinges on one question: Is the room the center of their business activities? The determination of the center of operations is qualitative, not based on days or hours: the overall picture of the circumstances and generally accepted practice are decisive. If the room is only the center of a single activity among several, it is generally not considered the center of the overall business activity; however, you can make a credible case or provide evidence to the contrary.

What else can be claimed in addition to the lump sum?

Work equipment constitutes a separate category of income-related expenses (Section 9(1), Sentence 3, No. 6 of the Income Tax Act (EStG)). A laptop, monitor, or headset that you use for work is claimed in addition to the daily allowance. For purchases, the rules regarding depreciation and immediate deduction apply; these are outlined in the article on income-related expenses for employees. Regarding office furniture: If a piece of furniture also serves as a work tool, it constitutes a separate item of income-related expenses, in addition to the annual lump sum for a home office. In contrast, the tax authorities consider wallpaper, carpets, curtains, drapes, and lamps to be part of the home office’s furnishings. Luxury items that serve primarily as decorations are not deductible.

How do I include the flat-rate amount on my tax return?