Germany: Home office tax allowance to remain after pandemic

Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) wants to ensure with the new federal government that the tax deduction for the home office remains permanently in place even after the COVID 19 pandemic. The grand coalition had passed a home office tax allowance to provide relief to workers during the pandemic.

Home office lump sum to remain in place

According to a report by WAZ, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) plans to push for the current homeoffice tax allowance to remain in place after the pandemic.

“I think it is conceivable that we make a permanent rule out of the exceptional rule,” said Lidner. The currently applicable flat rate is 5 euros per day and is limited to a maximum of 600 euros per year. Travel expenses may not be claimed when working from home, however.

The basic prerequisite for the benefit, which can be claimed for a maximum of 120 working days per year, was previously a separate, physically self-contained study as the center of professional activity in the home office.

Every professional can deduct the 5-euro flat rate for his or her home office days, including each spouse individually. Salaried employees deduct them as income-related expenses in their tax return, self-employed persons as business expenses.

Home office allowance for more quality of life

Since the start of the pandemic, the number of home office users has increased sharply. Despite home office flat rates, this is only worthwhile to a limited extent from a financial point of view, but often represents a significant gain in quality of life.

For example, because there is no longer any need to travel to the office or workplace, which of course also has a positive impact on the environment.

Tax returns to be made easier

At the same time, by the way, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner wants to advocate making tax returns easier:

“The tax return must become easier,” said the FDP politician. According to the minister, data that is already available to the authorities should be offered pre-filled in the future, so that one does not have to search for every single piece of information in the documents.