Working from home on a regular basis has become part of "the new normal" in part because of corona. An untaxed home work allowance is therefore more than welcome.

Many employees currently still receive a fixed monthly untaxed travel and/or expense allowance from their employer. Given the temporary nature of the approvals in the fiscal corona decision and the changed business travel and expense patterns of employees, this will likely need to change post-corona. After all, current tax laws and regulations do not yet match the new normal.

Internet and cell phone subscription costs can be reimbursed untaxed by the employer under the targeted exemption for tools and mobile communication devices. In addition, there are also possibilities for untaxed reimbursements and benefits in kind for employees applying the targeted exemption for occupational health and safety provisions.

However, employees who work from home also face additional costs for electricity consumption, water consumption, gas consumption, coffee/tea, toilet paper the depreciation of desk and office chair. According to Nibud, this amounts to an average of €2 per day per person. Employers are regularly asked to reimburse these costs. However, there is currently no specific tax regulation for this.

Tax-exempt home office expenses

The call from employers and employees for a tax-facilitated homework allowance is strong. The two largest trade unions in the Netherlands, FNV and CNV, are also calling for a homework allowance for employees who have to work from home frequently and for long periods of time. Fortunately, this call is expected to be heeded as of 2022. This is evident from the overview of bills in the Tax Plan 2022 package.

Also included as part of the proposed measures for 2022 is the introduction of a targeted exemption for reimbursing home office expenses. Unfortunately, nothing is yet known about how this targeted exemption will be implemented. If the targeted exemption is introduced, it will in any case mean that employers will be able to give a certain amount of untaxed compensation to their employees for home office expenses, without this being charged to the free room under the work-related expenses scheme.

We will have to wait for the 2022 Tax Plan package on Prince's Day (Sept. 21) and the votes in the Senate and House of Representatives to see whether the targeted exempted allowance for home office expenses really takes effect as of Jan. 1, 2022.

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