Rented Apartments: What Can Tenants Deduct?

Your rent is composed of different parts: You pay a basic rent for the use of the living space, plus the ancillary costs for heating and electricity. Aside from that, you pay additional operating costs for the upkeep and maintenance of the property. This includes the water supply, sewage disposal, janitorial costs, and/or expenses for cleaning.

As a tenant, you need to look at household-related services in your tax return. This refers to the work carried out in your rented residence that you can also do by yourself.

Even if you have not hired any domestic help or cleaning staff directly, you can enter various items of your utility bill as household-related services in your tax return. As a rule, all utility bills include stairwell cleaning, additional housekeeping services during winter, or caretaker services. You can submit your attributable costs to the tax office.

According to § 35a EStG, a maximum of up to 4,000 Euros per year is deductible from your income tax. As a tenant, you need an itemized annual statement of the operating costs or a certificate from the landlord stating the portion you have paid as proof. It is important that the work took place in your apartment or the associated building or property.

As a tenant, you will also have to deal with tradesmen’s services. These are used to renovate or maintain the apartment or house that you live in. Landlords like to allocate such expenses to operating costs. This includes, for example, maintenance work on the heating and water supply.

The minor repairs clause in rental contracts can also be used to directly impose minor maintenance work on your apartment. A common example of this is repairing a clogged drain.

You can deduct 20 per cent of the craftsmen wages from tax as craftsmen’s costs.
The upper limit here is 6,000 Euros per year, from which you can deduct these 20 per cent.

As a tenant, as in household-related services, you will need an itemized annual statement or a certificate from the landlord.

Another way to reduce your rental costs retrospectively is by deducting your home office expenses through the home office flat rate (“Home-Office-Pauschale”). This applies to employees, freelancers, and self-employed individuals who perform work from home, and it replaces the more complex method of deducting actual rent, electricity, or heating costs.

There are two main scenarios:

1. Exclusively Working from Home (e.g., freelancers, self-employed):
   Even if you work exclusively from home, the flat rate now applies instead of actual expenses. You can deduct €6 per day, for a maximum of 210 days per year, amounting to up to €1,260 annually.
2. Partially Working from Home (e.g., field staff, teachers):
   If you only perform part of your duties at home (e.g., because your job primarily takes place elsewhere), you’re still eligible for the same flat rate deduction—€6 per day worked from home, capped at €1,260 per year.

This change simplifies the process, as you no longer need to calculate proportional room usage or submit utility bills. Just keep a record of the days you worked from home.