Distance allowance despite home office: Is that possible?

When working from home, there is no need to travel to the workplace every day. The costs for this are usually tax deductible through a commuting allowance. Since numerous employees do not work however necessarily voluntarily in the Home Office, ask themselves many whether the distance lump sum may be nevertheless credited.

Distance allowance despite home office? This is the legal situation

One of the advantages of the home office is that you no longer have to commute between your home and the place of work every morning. By law, you are generally entitled to up to 0.30 euros per kilometer commuting allowance, which you can claim as income-related expenses. This applies to trips between home and work, but also for the use of your own car or public transport.

• Since in the home office the distance to the workplace is omitted, you can also no longer claim the distance allowance.
• Wohnen Sie beispielsweise 10 km von Ihrer Arbeitsstelle entfernt, fehlt bei durchschnittlich 240 Arbeitstagen im Jahr eine Entfernungspauschale von 720 Euro.
• Diese fehlende Pauschale führt zu steuerlichen Nachteilen.
• Um zumindest zusätzlich anfallende Kosten während des Home-Office zu sparen, ist es empfehlenswert, Abonnements des öffentlichen Nahverkehrs vorübergehend zu kündigen.