In a case before the Supreme Tax Court the question was raised as to whether home office costs could be accepted as potentially leading to tax deductible expense, even if the work was completed in any room at home. The Supreme Tax Court held that a deduction of home office expenses does not require that a specific office is maintained for the taxpayer's employment activity. It is sufficient if the room is used exclusively or almost exclusively for business/professional purposes.
Where the employer operates a hot desking / desk sharing policy, i.e. the employer does not allocate specific workspace to individual employees but rather provides a pool of workspaces, “other workspace” is nevertheless available to the employee, so that the exception to the general rule restricting the deduction of costs for an office in the home did not apply. This was decided by the Tax Court of Hesse in a recent ruling.
The finance ministry has issued a decree on the implementation procedures for a retrospective change in the law increasing the scope for deducting home office costs.
