Home office? Here's how to determine the optimal rent for your BV

You work from home and invoice through your limited company. It's only logical that you have to spend some of your house used as office and want to pass on those costs to your company. But how much rent can you charge for your home office without alarming the taxman, and is it always fiscally smart to stay within those limits?

The basics: rent for your home office

As a consultant with a home office, you are entitled to compensation from your company. The reasoning is simple: you make part of your private home available for professional use. You include that fee as home office rental income in your personal income tax, while your BV deducts it as a professional expense.

An average professional use for consultants who mainly work alone is around 25% of the total living space. This percentage is crucial for your calculation of how much rent you can charge for your home office. 

How much can you charge? The calculation method

The tax authorities use a formula that determines what amount of rent is considered "reasonable":

The basic formula: (Indexed Cadastral Income × 5/3 × revaluation coefficient) × occupational part

For 2023, the coefficient of revalorisation is 4.86.

Concrete example:
- KI of your property: €1,200
- Indexed KI: €1,200 × 1.9084 (index 2023) = €2,290
- Calculation: (€2,290 × 5/3 × 4.86) × 25% = €4,644 per year or €387 per month

Rental excedent: a tax trap or opportunity?

When you charge more than the outcome of the above formula, a "rent excess" is created. This excess is not considered by the tax authorities as deductible professional expenses accepted for your company. You pay corporate tax on it as well as it is considered a benefit in kind (VAA) on which you owe personal income tax.

But beware: the tax-optimal amount you can charge as rent for your home office is not always equal to what the taxman prescribes.

When a higher rent might still be interesting.

Sometimes it is strategically smarter to deliberately charge more rent:

1. When optimising your private wealth: Higher rent for your home office provides immediate cash flow for your private budget, without the 30% withholding tax that comes with dividends.

2. With low personal income tax: If your other income is limited, the extra rent can be tax-advantaged in your personal income tax.

The smart approach for your tax-optimised home office rental. 

The ideal rent is a balancing act between:
- A defensible percentage of professional use
- A reasonable rent that balances the tax burden
- Your overall tax situation (both private and corporate)

Pro-tip: Always document your calculation and justification. A lease between yourself and your company is essential, as well as evidence of professional use -> we do it for you, of course!

Want to know if you are currently charging the optimal rent for your home office? Book a strategic optimisation call at Bookies.finance and discover how to act both fiscally correct and financially smart. We look at the big picture, not just what is allowed by the book.