blank

Can I declare my home as a place of work?

oficina en casa

The number of people working from home continues to grow day by day. Before the Pandemic it was already growing, and after the Pandemic its growth has been exponential. If you are one of those people who work from home as a self-employed person, freelancer or setting up a business, the most logical question is, can I declare my home as a workplace? In this article we will see that you can, along with the benefits and drawbacks of doing so.

How do I declare my home as my place of work?

Let's see what we have to do in order to use the law that allows us to declare the house a place of work.

  • The first thing is that you have at home a defined space to workSuch as an office or a separate room. If you work in the kitchen or in the living room it will be difficult for the Hacienda to accept the request. 
  • The second is to take into account the days of the week you work and the hours that you spend, which will be used for accounting for the deduction.
  • After that you need, to calculate the square meters of the mentioned place in order to account for exactly the amount that you can deduct since, as we will see later, it cannot be done in a total way, that is, for the whole house.
  • Finally, you have to send the application to the tax authorities (census declaration), i.e. you have to fill in the model 036 or 037.

It is important to know that you need to be the owner of the property in order to make this request. In the case of rental housing, the owner must be the self-employed person and the one who makes the request. If possible, he or she will allow you to deduct the costs of supplies. Otherwise, it will not be possible to make the request.

What expenses could you deduct?

Declaring the house as a place of work, there are some expenses that we assume day by day and that can be deducted totally or partially in our house. For example:

  • IBI (Property Tax)
  • Expenses of the community of owners
  • Waste rate
  • Home insurance: in this case, the insurance will be deducted in proportion to the square meters you devote to work, as mentioned above.

There are other expenses that can be deducted 100%, as long as you present the corresponding invoices to the tax authorities:

  • Self-employed quota
  • insurance
  • Telephone consumption both landline and mobile
  • Purchase of electronics or furniture
  • Subscriptions to publications related to your professional sector
  • And, in general, all the expenses that come from carrying out your profession.

The benefits of declaring your house a place of work

At first it may seem tiresome and not worthwhile, due to the procedures that need to be carried out to achieve it. But once this phase is over, you can save up to 20% of your monthly expenses. Depending on how much space you use for work in your home, it can be even more. So, if you're patient and give it some time, it can be very beneficial.

The drawbacks of declaring housing as a place of work

One factor to take into account is that the tax authorities will not only take into account the above, but will also assess the correlation between your income and expenses, and will thus be able to determine your salary and the amount you will be able to deduct.

On the other hand, to be able to deduct the expenses mentioned above (the community, the IBI or the amortizations) you will have to present your IRPF declaration. This will make the calculation of the deductible amount, depending on your annual work activity.

In addition, there are other types of expenses which, although directly linked to work, cannot be deducted. For example, car expenses, since the Tax Office considers that if you work from home you do not need to travel, except at certain times. And that is difficult to calculate.

On the other hand, travel expenses are generally deductible, such as train, plane or bus tickets, meals in restaurants etc.

Now you know everything you need to know to be able to declare your home as a place of work. With a little patience you will be able to save on your monthly expenses.

Facebook
WhatsApp
Twitter
LinkedIn
Telegram
en_GBEnglish (UK)