Depreciation for Freelancers in Germany: AfA Explained Simply

Depreciation for Freelancers — What You Deduct Now and What Takes Years

You buy a MacBook for €2,500, a standing desk for €1,200, and a camera for €750. How much of that can you deduct from your taxes this year? The answer surprises most people: it depends. Some goes immediately, other items spread over up to 13 years. This confusion is called AfA — Absetzung fur Abnutzung (depreciation) — and it’s one of the most common stumbling blocks for freelancers in Germany.

In short: Assets up to €800 net are immediately deductible (GWG). Computers and software always go immediately since 2021. Everything else is depreciated straight-line over the official useful life. AfA reduces your Betriebsausgaben (business expenses) in the EÜR and therefore your tax burden.

What Is AfA?

AfA stands for “Absetzung fur Abnutzung” — literally “deduction for wear and tear” (§ 7 EStG). The principle: if you buy something that lasts longer than a year and costs more than €800 net, you can’t deduct the full purchase price at once. Instead, you spread it over the so-called Nutzungsdauer (useful life) — the number of years the Finanzamt assigns to that asset.

For freelancers, AfA is especially important because expensive purchases like camera equipment, office furniture, or vehicles don’t go through as a full Betriebsausgabe in the year you buy them. AfA means you claim a portion of the purchase price in your EÜR (Einnahmen-Uberschuss-Rechnung / income vs. expenses statement) each year.

Straight-Line Depreciation — The Standard Method

Lineare AfA (straight-line depreciation) is the most common method for freelancers. The formula is simple:

Annual AfA = Purchase cost (net) / Useful life in years

Example: A desk for €1,200 net with an official useful life of 13 years:

€1,200 / 13 years = €92.31 per year

That means you deduct €92.31 as a Betriebsausgabe in your EÜR for 13 years. Sounds like very little — and it is. That’s why knowing the special rules is so important.

The GWG Threshold: Immediate Deduction up to €800

GWG stands for “geringwertiges Wirtschaftsgut” (low-value asset). The rule is straightforward:

• Net purchase price up to €800 — fully deductible in the year of purchase
• Net purchase price over €800 — depreciated over the useful life

This applies to independently usable assets. A monitor that you only use with your laptop technically isn’t a GWG — but in practice, the Finanzamt now accepts monitors as independently usable.

Tip: Watch the net price. A device for €952 gross (€800 net + 19% VAT) is still a GWG. If you’re a Kleinunternehmer (small business owner) and don’t deduct input VAT, the gross price counts as the threshold.

The Sammelposten: Pool Depreciation for €250–€1,000

For assets between €250 and €1,000 net, there’s an alternative to individual AfA: the Sammelposten (pool depreciation, § 6 Abs. 2a EStG). All purchases in this price range are pooled together and depreciated evenly over 5 years — regardless of the actual useful life.

Advantage: Items with long useful lives (e.g., office furniture at 13 years) get depreciated in just 5 years instead. Disadvantage: You must choose the same method for all purchases in a given year — either individual AfA or pool depreciation.

The BMF Computer Rule: Laptops and More — Immediately

Since the BMF ruling of February 26, 2021, there’s a special rule for computers, laptops, and software: the useful life has been set to 1 year — regardless of the purchase price.

What this means in practice:

• MacBook for €2,500 — fully deductible in the year of purchase
• Gaming PC for €3,000 (used for business) — immediately deductible
• Software licenses — immediately deductible

This rule covers:

• Computers and laptops
• Tablets (if independently usable)
• Peripheral devices (printers, scanners, monitors)
• Software and operating systems

Important: This rule does not apply to smartphones. Smartphones still have an official useful life of 5 years. A smartphone costing €1,200 net means €240 in AfA per year (minus the private use share).

Key Useful Lives for Freelancers

The Federal Ministry of Finance publishes official AfA tables with useful lives for different assets. Here are the most relevant ones for freelancers:

Asset	Useful life	Annual AfA on €1,000 net
Computer, laptop	1 year (BMF 2021)	€1,000
Smartphone	5 years	€200
Camera (photo/video)	7 years	€142.86
Printer, scanner	3 years	€333.33
Desk	13 years	€76.92
Office chair	13 years	€76.92
Shelving, filing cabinet	13 years	€76.92
Car (Pkw)	6 years	€166.67
Bicycle (e-bike)	7 years	€142.86

Worked Example: 3 Purchases in January

Imagine you buy the following items in January for your freelance business:

1. MacBook Pro — €2,500 net

Thanks to the BMF computer rule (1-year useful life), you can deduct the full €2,500 as a Betriebsausgabe in the year of purchase. No multi-year depreciation needed.

Year 1: €2,500

2. Standing Desk — €1,200 net

Office furniture has an official useful life of 13 years. Since the price exceeds the GWG threshold, you must depreciate straight-line:

€1,200 / 13 = €92.31 per year

Since you purchased in January, you get the full annual AfA in the first year.

Year 1: €92.31 | Years 2–13: €92.31 each

3. Camera — €750 net

The net price is below the GWG threshold of €800. You can deduct the full €750 immediately as a Betriebsausgabe.

Year 1: €750

Year 1 Summary

Purchase	Betriebsausgabe Year 1
MacBook Pro	€2,500.00
Standing Desk	€92.31
Camera	€750.00
Total	€3,342.31

Out of total purchases worth €4,450, you can claim €3,342.31 as business expenses in your EÜR in the first year. The remaining €1,107.69 (desk) is spread across the following 12 years.

Mid-Year Purchases: Pro-Rata AfA

If you buy a depreciable asset not in January but in the middle of the year, the AfA for the first year is calculated on a monthly basis.

Example: Same desk for €1,200 net, purchased in July:

• Annual AfA: €92.31
• First year share (July–December = 6 months): €92.31 x 6/12 = €46.15
• From year 2 onward: full €92.31 per year

Tip: If you’re planning a major purchase that needs to be depreciated, the timing can matter. Buying in January means full AfA in year one. Buying in December gives you only 1/12 of the annual AfA.

This does not apply to GWG items (immediately deductible) and does not apply to computers under the BMF rule (1-year useful life — full deduction regardless of month).

What Happens at the End of the Useful Life?

Once the useful life expires, the asset is fully depreciated — the book value is €0 (or a nominal €1 reminder value). That means:

• You keep using it — No more cost in your bookkeeping, but no more Betriebsausgabe either
• You sell it — The entire sale proceeds count as Betriebseinnahme (business income), since the book value is €0
• You dispose of it — No tax impact

Private Use: Calculating the Business Share

If you use an asset for both business and personal purposes, you can only deduct the business share of the AfA as a Betriebsausgabe.

Example: Smartphone for €1,200 net, useful life 5 years, 70% business use:

• Annual AfA: €1,200 / 5 = €240
• Business share: €240 x 70% = €168 per year as a Betriebsausgabe

The Finanzamt may ask for proof. A 3-month usage log is usually sufficient to document the business share.

Sonder-AfA: An Extra 40% in the First 5 Years

Beyond regular straight-line depreciation, there’s the Sonder-AfA (special depreciation) under § 7g Abs. 5 EStG. This lets you deduct an additional 40% of the purchase cost within the first 5 years — distributed however you like.

Requirement: Your profit in the previous year was below €200,000.

Example: Desk for €1,200 net:

• Regular AfA: €92.31/year
• Sonder-AfA (40%): €480, flexibly distributed across the first 5 years
• Year 1 maximum: €92.31 + €480 = €572.31

The Sonder-AfA is a powerful tool to front-load your deductions and reduce your tax burden in the years after a purchase.

How Restio Helps

With Restio, depreciation becomes effortless:

• Automatic AfA classification — scan a receipt and Restio uses official BMF tables to determine if it’s immediately deductible (GWG), covered by the computer rule, or requires multi-year depreciation
• AfA tracking across years — Restio calculates the annual AfA for every purchase and automatically maintains remaining book values
• EÜR export — all Betriebsausgaben including AfA amounts are included in the EÜR-compatible CSV export
• Purchase decisions — ask the AI tax advisor before buying: “How will this purchase affect my tax burden?”

Try Restio free for 14 days and keep track of all your depreciation.

Conclusion

AfA sounds complicated but follows clear rules: under €800 net goes immediately. Computers and software always go immediately since 2021. Everything else is straight-line depreciated over the official useful life. If you know these three rules, you’ve covered 90% of cases. And for the rest, there are the BMF’s AfA tables — or you let Restio handle the classification for you.

Further Reading

• § 7 EStG — Depreciation
• BMF Ruling on Computer Useful Life (2021)
• Official BMF AfA Tables