Deduct Internet Costs in Germany 2026: Share, VAT & Example

Fibre for €50 a month, maybe a second line for the office — your internet connection runs all year and adds up to €500–€700 for most self-employed people. You deduct the business share in full as a business expense, plus the input VAT if you are standard-rated.

Yet many leave money on the table here: they set the business share too cautiously, confuse the connection with the home-office allowance, or forget input VAT entirely. Over ten years that easily becomes a four-figure sum that stays with the tax office for no reason.

This guide covers how high the business share can realistically be, why the daily home-office allowance does not cover your internet contract, and how to claim the input VAT correctly.

Can you deduct your internet at all?

Yes — as soon as you use your internet for business too, the proportionate cost is a business expense. That applies to fixed lines (DSL, fibre) as well as mobile internet (data plans, mobile routers) and office connections. Unlike a laptop, which runs through immediate write-off or depreciation, an internet connection is a running cost — you book it month by month at the business share.

Watch the line to telephony: a combined mobile contract with data counts as telecommunications and belongs in Deducting phone costs. Here we cover the pure data connection — the line you actually work over.

How much can you deduct?

The question is not "how much?" but "how high is the business share?". With a single line used both privately and for work, you estimate the share realistically. These ranges are usually uncontested in practice:

Profile	Realistic share
Full-time home office (developer, designer, copywriter, consultant)	50–70 %
Self-employed with external meetings (coach, trainer, photographer)	40–50 %
Side business (main job external, client work in the evening)	20–30 %

The share must match reality, but the tax office does not demand hour-by-hour records. Anyone who goes online exclusively for business — for example via a separate office line in the company name — deducts 100 % and avoids any discussion in an audit.

Watch out: the €20 flat rate is not for the self-employed

Many guides cite a flat "phone and internet allowance" of 20% of the bill, capped at €20 per month. That is the employee simplification under R 9.1 LStR — it does not apply to you as a self-employed person. You claim the actual business share, and on a €50 tariff at 60% use that is already €30 a month, well above the flat rate.

The home-office allowance does not cover the line

This is the most common mistake: the daily home-office allowance (€6 per day, capped at €1,260 per year) covers using part of your home as a workplace. It covers room costs — not your work equipment and not the internet connection.

Internet, phone, laptop and office supplies are deducted in addition to the daily allowance. Even if you claim only the daily allowance rather than a fully separate home office, you do not lose your internet deduction. Both side by side are allowed.

Input VAT on internet costs

If you are standard-rated (not a small business under § 19 UStG), you also claim the stated VAT as input VAT. On a €50 gross tariff that is €7.98 VAT per month — at 60% business use, €4.79 of input VAT each month. Conditions:

• A proper invoice with separately stated VAT (the PDF from your account portal is enough)
• The name and address match your business details
• Above €250 gross: the provider's tax number or VAT ID

You claim the input VAT in the VAT return for the month you receive the invoice. Small businesses book the gross amount as an expense but cannot claim input VAT.

Worked example: fibre at 60% business use

A fibre connection costs €49.99 gross per month and you use it 60% for business:

• Net business expense: €42.01 net × 12 × 60% = €302.47 per year
• Input VAT: €7.98 VAT × 12 × 60% = €57.46 per year
• Tax saving at a 35% marginal rate: around €163 per year

Over five years that is more than €800 — for a line you pay for anyway.

Receipts and bookkeeping

Keep the provider invoices for 10 years and store a short justification of the share: "DSL line used 60% for business: client communication, cloud, research. 40% private." The tax office asks for no more in an audit.

Norman pulls your Telekom, Vodafone or 1&1 invoice straight from your bank account, categorises it as "telecommunications" and calculates input VAT and the business share automatically — you set the share once and the rest runs by itself. For how the deduction lands in your return, see our overview of taxes for the self-employed.

Conclusion

Deducting internet costs in 2026 means: set the business share realistically (usually 40–70%), justify it in writing, claim the input VAT if you are standard-rated, and avoid two myths — the €20 flat rate is for employees only, and the daily home-office allowance does not cover the connection. Do this cleanly and you recover a four-figure sum over the years.