Bookkeeping & receipts · 6.7

Office in Your Own Home: What May the GmbH Pay?

Short answer

If you work from home, there are two routes: Your GmbH rents a room in your apartment, or you claim the home office allowance (Homeoffice-Pauschale) in your personal tax return as an employed managing director. Simply running the office through the GmbH without a contract is not permitted.

Key points

Option 1: The GmbH rents a room

Written lease agreement between you and the GmbH, at local market rent.
The GmbH deducts the rent as an operating expense (Betriebsausgabe).
You tax the rent personally as rental income. You can offset proportionate costs of the apartment against it.
If the rent is too high, the excess portion becomes a hidden profit distribution (verdeckte Gewinnausschüttung).

Option 2: Home office allowance

You claim it in your personal tax return as income-related expenses (Werbungskosten), as an employee of your GmbH.
No contract with the GmbH required.

Which option is more advantageous depends on rent, room size, and your personal tax rate.

Figures & thresholds (as of November 2026)

Home office allowance: €6 per day, at most €1,260 per year

Legal basis

§ 21 EStG§ 4 Abs. 5 Satz 1 Nr. 6c EStG§ 9 Abs. 5 EStG§ 8 Abs. 3 KStG

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Next video: Laptops & Co.: Deduct immediately or depreciate?
Related: What is a hidden profit distribution?

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You record the rent paid to yourself in Pluto as premises costs of the company, using the lease agreement as the supporting document.

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