Tax Deductions for Freelancers in Germany: Complete Guide

Every euro you deduct as a business expense lowers your profit and with it your income tax. For most expenses the rule is simple. A few come with fixed limits, and that’s where the costly mistakes happen. This guide covers both.

Key points

Business expenses (Betriebsausgaben) are all costs caused by your business (§ 4(4) EStG).
Some come with limits: home office 6 euros a day, at most 1,260 euros a year; business meals at 70%; gifts only up to 50 euros per recipient per year.
Computers and software can be deducted in full in the year you buy them.
Trips between home and your place of business are deductible at the commuting allowance, from 2026 at 0.38 euros per kilometre.
Health insurance and donations are not business expenses but special expenses (Sonderausgaben).
Keep receipts for eight years.

What counts as a business expense?

A business expense is any cost caused by your self-employed work. It doesn’t have to be “necessary” or frugal. What matters is the business reason.

On top of that, there is a list of expenses that are wholly or partly non-deductible even though they are business-related (§ 4(5) EStG). The important ones are below.

For things you use both privately and for work, you deduct only the business share.

Working from home

There are two separate routes for working from home.

The daily allowance (Homeoffice-Pauschale). 6 euros for each day on which you mainly worked at home and didn’t go to an outside first place of work, up to 1,260 euros a year (§ 4(5) sentence 1 no. 6c EStG). You don’t need a separate room. If you permanently have no other workplace, the day still counts when you also visited a client.

The home study (häusliches Arbeitszimmer). A separate room that is the centre of your entire professional activity (no. 6b). Only then are the costs deductible, and you choose between:

the actual costs: the share of rent, utilities, electricity, heating and cleaning, by floor area, or
a flat 1,260 euros a year, without itemising.

If the study isn’t the centre of your work, for example because you mostly work at client sites, only the daily allowance is left. You can’t claim both for the same period.

Example: You mainly worked from home on 180 days but have no home study that is the centre of your work. You deduct 180 × 6 euros = 1,080 euros.

Our guide to the home office allowance and home study has more detail and worked examples. It’s written for employees, but the allowances are the same.

Office rent

If you rent an office outside your home, rent, service charges, cleaning and insurance are fully deductible. A coworking desk counts too.

Equipment and technology

Desk, chair, monitor, printer, specialist books, office supplies: anything you buy for work is deductible. How fast depends on the price.

Net price	Treatment
up to 800 euros	Low-value asset (GWG): deducted in full straight away (§ 6(2) EStG)
over 800 euros	Depreciated over the useful life in the official depreciation tables
Computer hardware and software, any price	A useful life of one year is accepted, so you deduct it in the year of purchase (BMF letter of 22.02.2022)

The one-year rule covers desktop computers, notebooks, docking stations, external storage and peripherals such as monitors, keyboards, printers and scanners, as well as operating and application software.

Software, internet and phone

Software subscriptions, cloud storage, hosting, domains, accounting software: fully deductible.
Internet and phone: for mixed use, deduct the business share. Write down how you worked out the share.

Training, memberships, marketing

Fully deductible, among others:

courses, seminars, conferences, specialist literature
fees for professional associations and chambers
website, online ads, business cards, portfolio photos, logo and branding
tax adviser, lawyer (for business matters), bookkeeping
business account fees, payment provider fees, interest on business loans

Travel

Trips between home and your place of business

If you regularly go to your own office or a coworking space, that is your place of business (Betriebsstätte). These trips are deductible, but only at the commuting allowance (Entfernungspauschale, § 4(5) sentence 1 no. 6 EStG):

Year	Rate
2025	0.30 euros per km of the one-way distance for the first 20 km, 0.38 euros from km 21
from 2026	0.38 euros from the first kilometre

Each full kilometre of the one-way distance counts, once per working day.

Example for 2026: 15 km to the coworking space, 200 days: 15 × 0.38 × 200 = 1,140 euros.

Business trips and client visits

Trips to clients, trade fairs or changing work locations are business trips:

In your private car: 0.30 euros per kilometre driven, so both ways.
By train, plane, taxi: the actual costs.
Overnight stays: the actual hotel costs, excluding breakfast.
Meals: not your actual restaurant bills but meal allowances (Verpflegungspauschalen, § 9(4a) EStG, applied through § 4(5) sentence 1 no. 5 EStG):
- 14 euros for more than 8 hours away, and on the arrival and departure day of a multi-day trip
- 28 euros for each full 24-hour day

Example: Three days with a client in Hamburg, Monday to Wednesday. Meals: 14 + 28 + 14 = 56 euros, plus train ticket and hotel.

Business meals, gifts and entertainment

Business meals (Bewirtung). If you take clients or business partners out, 70% of the reasonable cost is deductible (§ 4(5) sentence 1 no. 2 EStG). Note place, date, attendees, reason and amount. In a restaurant, reason and attendees are enough, with the bill attached.

Gifts. Gifts to clients and business partners are only deductible if they cost no more than 50 euros per recipient per year in total (§ 4(5) sentence 1 no. 1 EStG). Above that, the whole amount is lost, not just the part over 50 euros. Record the recipient for each gift.

Entertainment. Costs for hunting, fishing, sailing or motor yachts and similar purposes are generally not deductible (§ 4(5) sentence 1 no. 4 EStG). For other invitations, such as to events, it depends on whether they count as a gift, a business meal or excessive. If in doubt, ask a tax adviser.

Insurance

Business expenses are policies that cover a business risk:

professional and financial loss liability insurance
contents insurance for the office
legal expenses cover for business disputes

Not business expenses are personal insurance and provision, even if you are self-employed:

health and long-term care insurance: special expenses under § 10(1) no. 3 EStG
pension insurance, Basisrente: special expenses under § 10(1) no. 2 EStG

They still reduce your tax, but on your income tax return, not in the Anlage EÜR.

What you can’t deduct

everyday private costs: ordinary clothing, your own meals outside of trips
donations: they are special expenses (§ 10b EStG), not business expenses
fines and penalties (§ 4(5) sentence 1 no. 8 EStG)
the private share of things used both ways
costs you can’t document

Receipts and retention

Keep every receipt, digital or paper. Accounting vouchers, including invoices, are kept for eight years, books and records for ten (§ 147(3) AO).
Note the reason where it isn’t obvious: business meals, gifts, trips.
Keep private and business apart. A separate account for business payments isn’t required, but it saves a lot of time.

Common mistakes

Booking health insurance as a business expense. It belongs in special expenses.
Deducting gifts over 50 euros in full. Above the limit the whole gift is non-deductible.
Deducting restaurant bills on trips. On trips, the meal allowances apply.
Depreciating a laptop over years. Since 2021 you can deduct it in the year of purchase.
Forgetting trips to your own office. They are deductible at the commuting allowance.

One distinction worth keeping straight: this guide covers business expenses. If you are also employed, that part of your income works with Werbungskosten (work-related expenses) instead, which have their own rules and a 1,230 euro standard allowance.

How Solobooks helps

In Solobooks you import your bank transactions, give each expense a category and attach the receipt directly to the transaction. Solobooks suggests categories automatically. At year end, those categories make up your Anlage EÜR, which you submit directly to ELSTER or hand to your tax adviser as a DATEV export.

FAQ

How much home office can I deduct as a freelancer? 6 euros a day, up to 1,260 euros a year. If a home study is the centre of your work, you can instead deduct the actual costs or a flat 1,260 euros.

Can I deduct my laptop straight away? Yes. Computer hardware and software may be given a one-year useful life, whatever the price.

Are restaurant meals on business trips deductible? Not the bill itself. You claim meal allowances of 14 or 28 euros a day. If you invite a client, 70% of the business meal is deductible.

Is my health insurance a business expense? No. Health and long-term care insurance are special expenses, claimed on your income tax return.

How long do I need to keep receipts? Accounting vouchers for eight years, books and records for ten.

Need help?

If you have questions about tax deductions:

Email us at support@solobooks.de
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Sources

Last checked: 30 October 2026. This article is general information, not tax advice for your individual case. Legislation and official guidance change — the current version of each source prevails.

Last updated: October 30, 2026

Expert Tip

Health and long-term care insurance, pension contributions and donations are not business expenses. They are special expenses (Sonderausgaben) on your income tax return, not in your EÜR.

— Solobooks Team