# An Accounting Guide to Deducting Home-Office Expenses for Freelancers and Sole Proprietors

> How freelancers and sole proprietors working from home can correctly deduct electricity, internet, rent and depreciation expenses in line with regulations.

Kaynak / Source: https://sinemyavuz.com.tr/en/blog/home-office-gider-rehberi
Kategori / Category: Self-Employed
Yayın / Published: 2026-05-14
Güncelleme / Updated: 2026-05-14
Yazar / Author: Sinem Yavuz (SMMM) — SMMM Sinem Yavuz

The shift to remote work that became permanent after the pandemic effectively turned the homes of many freelancers — lawyers, translators, designers, developers, consultants — and sole proprietors into their actual workplace. But "I work from home" doesn't mean your full electricity or rent bill can automatically be deducted. Where a home serves as both residence and workplace, regulations only allow the business-related portion of the expense to be deducted.

## Which Expenses Are Typically Involved?

The expense categories that come up most often in a home-office setup are:

- Rent (if you're a tenant)
- Electricity, water and heating/gas bills
- Internet and landline bills
- Building depreciation, if you own the home
- Depreciation on office furniture, computers and equipment

All of these are subject to the "business-use portion" rule — an internet bill might reasonably be argued as fully business-related, but for electricity and rent, the question of whether the whole home or just one room functions as the workplace becomes central.

## How Is the Expense Ratio Determined?

The most commonly used and audit-defensible method is calculating the ratio of floor area dedicated to work versus the home's total floor area. For example, in a 100 m² home where a 15 m² room is used exclusively as a workspace, that proportion of shared expenses like electricity and heating can be deducted.

When setting this ratio, it's important to rely on a measurable method — floor area or hours of use — rather than an arbitrary percentage. If audited, you need a concrete explanation for why that specific ratio was chosen.

## Whose Name Should the Invoice Be In?

For electricity, water and internet bills to be accepted as a deductible expense, it matters that the invoice is issued in the taxpayer's own name — ideally at the address declared as the place of business. If the bill is registered under a spouse's or family member's name, additional documentation (a lease agreement, a shared-use declaration) may be needed to support the deduction.

## If You Own the Home, Depreciation Applies

If the taxpayer owns the property, building depreciation can be calculated for the portion allocated as workspace. If you're a tenant, the relevant portion of the rent you pay is treated as the deductible expense instead — not depreciation. Keeping these two cases distinct is the basis for both an accurate tax base and correct bookkeeping.

## Equipment and Furniture Expenses

Computers, monitors, office chairs and desks used directly in professional activity can be deducted outright or depreciated over several years, depending on their value. The key criterion is whether the item is reasonably used exclusively for work — a television in the family living room, for instance, generally can't be deducted as a business expense.

## Common Mistakes

- Deducting the full amount of household expenses without any floor-area or usage-based split
- Recording an expense with no supporting documentation when the invoice isn't in the taxpayer's name
- Capitalizing assets that also serve a personal purpose — a living-room TV or kitchen appliances, for example
- Never having declared the home-office arrangement in a service contract or activity statement

## How Our Advisory Process Works

For clients working under a home-office arrangement, our first step is jointly determining the actual physical usage ratio of the workspace, then setting a defensible expense ratio based on it. We apply that ratio consistently through the monthly bookkeeping process and prepare supporting documentation — a usage declaration, a marked floor plan — whenever it's needed.