Expensive Purchases: How Depreciation Works for Employees in Germany

How to Deduct Expensive Work Purchases on Your German Tax Return

You bought a new desk for €1,300 and entered it as a Werbungskosten deduction on your tax return? If you claim the full amount in one year, the Finanzamt will reject it. For expensive purchases, different rules apply than for a pen or notebook.

The good news: you can still deduct expensive work items — you just have to spread the cost over multiple years. It sounds more complicated than it is. We’ll explain how it works, where the limits are, and when you can actually deduct everything at once.

The Key Threshold: €800 Net

The most important number to remember: €800 net (that’s €952 gross including 19% VAT). This threshold determines how you deduct a purchase:

• Up to €800 net: You deduct the full amount immediately in the year of purchase. This is called a low-value asset (geringwertiges Wirtschaftsgut, or GWG). Just enter it on your tax return, done.
• Over €800 net: You have to spread the cost over multiple years. The Finanzamt assigns each type of item an official useful life, and you distribute the cost evenly over that period.

Tip: The €800 threshold is always based on the net price. As an employee, you pay the gross price, but the net amount is what matters for tax purposes. An office chair for €940 gross costs about €790 net — making it a GWG that you can deduct immediately.

🧮 Calculate now: Use our free Depreciation Calculator to compare GWG vs. depreciation for your purchase.

Spreading Costs Over Multiple Years — How It Works

When a work item costs more than €800 net, you distribute the purchase price evenly over its so-called useful life. This useful life is set by the Federal Ministry of Finance in official tables. Here are the most important values for employees:

Item	Useful life	Annual amount for a €1,300 item
Desk	13 years	€100/year
Office chair	13 years	€100/year
Smartphone	5 years	€260/year
Bicycle (work use)	7 years	~€186/year
Filing cabinet / shelf	13 years	€100/year
Printer	7 years	~€186/year

The math is simple: purchase price divided by useful life = annual deduction amount.

The Big Exception: Computers and Laptops

Since 2021, a special rule from the Federal Ministry of Finance applies: computers, laptops, tablets, and peripherals (monitors, keyboards, mice, headsets, printers) have a useful life of just 1 year. This means you can deduct them fully in the year of purchase — no matter how expensive they are.

This is a real exception. A laptop costing €1,500 is fully deductible in the year you buy it. A desk costing €1,300 has to be spread over 13 years.

Quick example: You buy a laptop for €1,500 and a desk for €1,300 in 2026. For the laptop, you deduct the full €1,500 in the first year. For the desk, only €100 per year (€1,300 ÷ 13) — for 13 years.

Real-World Example: What Does the Desk Actually Cost You?

Let’s say you buy a height-adjustable desk for €1,300 (net about €1,092, so above the GWG threshold). The useful life for office furniture is 13 years.

• Annual deduction: €1,300 ÷ 13 = €100 per year
• Bought in October: In the first year, only 3 months count, so €100 × 3/12 = €25
• Following years: €100 each
• Final year: The remaining 9 months = €75

Sounds like a small amount per year? True. But it adds up, especially when you’re depreciating multiple expensive items over the years. And if you don’t deduct the desk at all, you’re losing €1,300 in total deduction potential.

What Happens When You Sell, Dispose, or Break Something?

If an item breaks, you throw it away, or you sell it before the useful life is up, you can deduct the remaining book value in one go as Werbungskosten.

Example: Your desk (€1,300, 13 years) breaks after 5 years. You’ve deducted 5 × €100 = €500 so far. The remaining €800 can be claimed in full as Werbungskosten in the year of disposal.

Tip: Document the disposal or defect with a photo or short note. If the Finanzamt asks, you’ll have proof.

If you sell an item, you need to report the sale proceeds as income. The difference between the remaining book value and the sale price either results in a loss (deductible) or a gain (taxable).

Mixed Use: Work and Personal

If you use an item for both work and personal purposes, you can only deduct the work-related portion. This is common with smartphones, tablets, and bicycles.

Smartphone example: You buy a smartphone for €1,200 and use it 60% for work. The useful life is 5 years.

• Work portion: €1,200 × 60% = €720
• Annual deduction: €720 ÷ 5 = €144 per year

If you use something more than 90% for work, the Finanzamt generally accepts the full deduction without splitting.

What Documentation Do You Need?

For every purchase you want to deduct, you should keep the following:

• Receipt or invoice — with date, item description, and amount
• Proof of work use — for mixed-use items, a brief explanation or log
• Disposal documentation — photo, note, or disposal receipt

You don’t need to submit these with your tax return, but keep them in case the Finanzamt asks. For items you’re deducting over multiple years, hold on to the receipts for the entire depreciation period.

How Restio Helps

This is where things get tricky in practice: which item has which useful life? How much can I deduct this year? What if I bought one item in March and another in November?

With Restio, you don’t have to worry about any of that:

• Automatic splitting — Restio knows the official useful life tables and automatically distributes the purchase price across the correct years
• Yearly overview — see at a glance which deductions are due in which year and how they affect your refund estimate
• Scan receipts — photograph the invoice and Restio automatically detects the item, price, and category
• Purchase decisions — ask before buying: “Can I deduct this?” and Restio tells you immediately whether and how it’s deductible

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

Conclusion

Deducting expensive work items isn’t rocket science, but you need to know the rules. The key takeaways:

• Up to €800 net = deduct immediately
• Over €800 net = spread over the useful life
• Computers and laptops = always immediately deductible (special rule since 2021)
• Something breaks = deduct the remaining amount in one year
• Mixed use = only deduct the work portion

Many employees leave money on the table every year because they either don’t claim expensive purchases at all — or claim them incorrectly and have the Finanzamt strike them out. With the right knowledge (and a tool like Restio), that’s easy to avoid.