> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.immodio.app/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.immodio.app/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10089200-miete-fuer-angemietetes-selbstgenutztes-buero.md). # Rent for a leased office used by you Help on the Immodio entry item Rent for a rented office you use yourself.
You use this category for **rent payments for an office you use yourself** that you have rented for the **administration of your let properties** and that is economically attributable to your letting activity. Typically this is a **separate office outside your private home** from which you, for example: * manage rental agreements, * prepare operating cost statements, * communicate with tenants, * coordinate tradesmen, * process invoices and receipts, * do your property bookkeeping, * organise viewings, * prepare changes of tenant, * deal with owners' meetings or other property matters, * or carry out the other day-to-day administration of your let properties. Under Section 9 EStG, income-related expenditure is expenditure to **acquire, secure and maintain income**. Where a rented office is actually used for the administration of your letting activity, the costs attributable to it can therefore in principle be income-related expenditure for income from letting and leasing. #### **This category covers an office you rent yourself – not the rent of your let property** What is meant is the office **you use yourself as a landlord**. **Example**: You own several rented apartments and additionally rent a small office from which you administer these properties. The monthly office rent in principle belongs to: **"**[**Rent for a rented office you use yourself**](/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10089200-miete-fuer-angemietetes-selbstgenutztes-buero.md)**"** #### **Example: a separate office for property administration** You own several let apartments and rent a separate office in a commercial building for them. Monthly office rent: **€750** The office is used exclusively for the administration of your let properties. Annual rent: **€750 × 12 months = €9,000** The **€9,000** can in principle be taken into account as expenditure occasioned by the letting activity and posted to the **"**[**Rent for a rented office you use yourself**](/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10089200-miete-fuer-angemietetes-selbstgenutztes-buero.md)**"** category. This requires a comprehensible economic connection between the office and your rental income. #### **The important difference from a study at home** With this category it is particularly important to distinguish between a **separately rented office outside the home** and a **study at home**. A study at home is a room that is spatially integrated into your private living area and is typically used for written, organisational or administrative activities. Special tax requirements apply to such a study at home. Under the current law, actual expenditure on a study at home can in principle only be taken into account where it is the centre of all business and professional activity. Alternatively, an annual flat rate of **€1,260** or a daily flat rate can be considered where the statutory requirements are met. #### **An office outside the home: actual costs can in principle be taken into account** Where there is a genuine office outside the home and it serves your letting activity, the special restriction for a study at home does not in principle apply. The Federal Fiscal Court confirmed that the expenditure on the office outside the home could be taken into account in full as income-related expenditure for income from letting and leasing. For this category that means: **Where the office is actually separate from your private living area and is used exclusively for your letting activity, the actual rental costs are in principle recorded and not merely a study or home office flat rate.** #### **Not every additionally rented room is automatically outside the home** An additional rental agreement alone is not always sufficient, however. {% hint style="info" %} The Federal Ministry of Finance expressly points out that a **second home immediately adjoining or immediately opposite** can, for example, still be assessed as a study at home. {% endhint %} On the other hand, an additionally rented room in the cellar or the loft of an apartment building can be outside the home where there is no sufficiently close connection with the private living area. Its location, access and the actual circumstances of the individual case are decisive. **a) Example: an office in a different commercial building** You live in an apartment building. Two streets away you rent a separate 25 m² office in a commercial building. The office has its own access and does not spatially belong to your private home. You use it exclusively to administer your let properties. There is in principle much to suggest an **office outside the home** here. **b) Example: the neighbouring apartment as an office** You live in apartment no. 4. Directly opposite on the same landing you additionally rent apartment no. 5 and set up a desk and filing cabinets there. Simply because there is a separate rental agreement for apartment no. 5, an office outside the home is not automatically given for tax purposes. {% hint style="info" %} The Federal Ministry of Finance names precisely second homes immediately adjoining or opposite as cases in which a **study at home** can still be present. {% endhint %} #### **A rented office actually has to serve the letting activity** For income-related expenditure to be deductible it is not sufficient merely to designate a room as a "landlord's office". The economic connection with your rental income actually has to exist. Sensible activities in such an office can be, for example: * administering current tenancies, * preparing and checking operating cost statements, * processing rent payments, * dunning, * correspondence with tenants, * dealing with rental defects, * preparing and following up handovers of apartments, * communicating with property managers, * checking tradesmen's invoices, * coordinating repairs, * keeping the property records, * administering insurance policies and contracts, * preparing tax records, * communicating with a tax adviser or a lawyer, * preparing new lettings. The general concept of income-related expenditure requires an objective economic connection with the type of income concerned. #### **The office is additionally used for another activity** The case where you do not use the same office exclusively for your letting activity is also important. For example, you additionally operate: * a trade, * a self-employed activity, * commercial property management for third-party owners, * or another activity that has to be treated separately for income tax purposes. The entire office rent may then not be attributed to income from letting and leasing. The costs have to be attributed to the respective activities according to what actually occasioned them economically. **Example: 70% own letting activity, 30% another activity** Monthly office rent: **€1,000** On a comprehensible split of use, the following apply: * **70% to the administration of your own rented properties** * **30% to another activity** The share attributable to your own letting activity is therefore: **€1,000 × 70% = €700** In principle only the **€700** then belongs in this category as the share relating to the letting activity. The remaining share of **€300** has to be attributed to the other activity. The split used should be objectively comprehensible and documented permanently. #### **Avoid using the office privately as well** A substantial private use is also problematic. Where you also regularly use the office, for example: * for your private finances, * for private correspondence, * for a hobby, * as a private lounge, * or for other purposes not related to generating income, there is no connection with income from letting and leasing for that share. Section 9 EStG only allows a deduction to the extent that expenditure is connected with generating the income concerned. {% hint style="info" %} With an office whose full costs are to be attributed to the letting activity, a **clear actual use for property administration** should therefore be comprehensible. {% endhint %} #### **Recoverable in the operating cost statement** The rent for your own administrative office is an **administrative cost item of the landlord** and not an operating cost item of the let building. The **"Recoverable in the operating cost statement"** switch therefore has to **stay disabled** for this category. #### **In short** Use the **"Rent for a rented office you use yourself"** category where you actually rent an office that you use yourself for the **administration of your let properties**. The following applies in particular: * A **genuine office outside the home** is to be distinguished from a study at home. The special deduction restrictions for a study at home do not in principle apply to an office outside the home. * Where the office is used exclusively for your letting activity, the actual rental expenditure can in principle be taken into account as income-related expenditure. * Where the office is also used for other activities, only the share economically attributable to your letting activity is to be assigned to this category. * A room additionally rented immediately next to your private home is **not automatically outside the home**. The spatial connection with the private living area has to be assessed in the individual case. * Rent, office equipment, internet, electricity, the broadcasting fee and other office costs should not be mixed together where there are more suitable categories for each of them. * A long-term advance rent payment for a period of **more than five years** has in principle to be spread over the period covered by the advance payment. * With a project office set up exclusively for a specific new-build project, an attribution to production costs instead of running income-related expenditure may need to be examined. * The office rent is **not recoverable in your tenants' operating cost statement**, because administrative costs are expressly excluded from operating costs. Keep in particular the **rental agreement and the ongoing evidence of rent paid**, therefore, and make sure that the actual use of the office for your property administration remains permanently verifiable.