If you work from home as a coach or therapist, you usually cannot deduct the costs of the practice room. The law excludes those costs, unless the space is a self-contained part of the home and you earn most of your income there. This applies to a rented home and to an owner-occupied home.
A self-contained space has, for example, its own entrance and its own sanitary facilities, and you could let it to someone else. A treatment room that used to be a bedroom is not. Other costs of your practice remain deductible as usual.
In short
- Costs of a workspace in your home, including furnishings, are not deductible, unless the space is self-contained and you pass the income test.
- Self-contained means among other things: own entrance, own sanitary facilities and capable of being let to someone else. A desk in the living room or a converted bedroom does not count.
- The income test counts your whole income, including wages from a job. Anyone who is employed alongside the practice is therefore less likely to pass.
In this article
- Can you deduct the costs of a practice room in your home?
- When is a practice room self-contained?
- How much of your income must you earn in the practice room?
- What if the space is not self-contained?
- Which costs of a practice at home are deductible?
- Working from home or renting a space: what should you look out for?
Can you deduct the costs of a practice room in your home?
Usually not. The law provides that costs of a workspace in your home, including furnishings, are not deductible if the home is not part of your business assets. Only if the space is a self-contained part of the home and you pass the income test is it allowed (Income Tax Act 2001, article 3.16(1)).
The tax authority says the same: in a very limited number of cases you qualify for a deduction, usually not (Belastingdienst, workspace in the home). This applies to business owners and to people with income from other activities, and to rented and owner-occupied homes (Belastingdienst, workspace tool).
When is a practice room self-contained?
If the space is clearly distinguishable from the rest of the home. The tax authority names as factors: its own entrance or access, its own sanitary facilities, and that you could let the space to someone else (Belastingdienst, workspace in the home).
A desk in the living room or a bedroom you have furnished as a workspace is not a self-contained workspace (Belastingdienst). This applies even if you only see clients there. An extension or garden room with its own door to the outside and its own toilet stands a better chance.
If in doubt, you can put your situation to the tax authority. The tax authority also has an online tool to determine whether you might be able to deduct the costs after all (Belastingdienst, workspace tool).
How much of your income must you earn in the practice room?
That depends on whether you also have a workspace outside the home. If you do, you must earn your income mainly in the space at home. If you do not, you must earn it mainly in or from the space at home, and to a significant extent in the space itself (Income Tax Act 2001, article 3.16(1)).
The law adds up your profit, your taxable wages and your income from other activities (Income Tax Act 2001, article 3.16(1)). If you work three days as an employee at a care institution and two days in your own practice, you probably do not earn most of your income at home. The law itself does not mention percentages, and the tax authority's tool calculates it for you.
A rented practice room elsewhere also counts as a workspace outside the home. If you see half your clients at home and the other half in a rented room, you will find it hard to pass the test for the space at home.
What if the space is not self-contained?
Then the costs of the space are not deductible. These include, for example, part of the rent, energy and cleaning, but also the furnishings of the space (Income Tax Act 2001, article 3.16(1)). With an owner-occupied home, the whole home then belongs to your private assets (Belastingdienst, business use of a home).
There is one exception. If you own the home and it belongs to your business assets, you can deduct costs (Belastingdienst, workspace in the home). That also has other tax consequences. For most coaches and therapists that is not an ordinary choice.
Which costs of a practice at home are deductible?
Costs that belong to your business and not to the workspace itself. The exclusion in article 3.16(1) concerns the workspace and its furnishings. Costs you incur for your work, separate from the space, do not fall under it.
- Training and further education for your profession.
- Membership of a professional body and registration in a quality register.
- Professional liability insurance.
- Materials you use with clients, and your website.
Separate rules apply to some items, even if the space is not self-contained. For example, the costs of a telephone subscription for a connection in your living space are not deductible (Income Tax Act 2001, article 3.16(2)). So check what the law says for each cost item.
Different rules apply for VAT than for income tax. If, as a therapist, you are exempt from VAT, you do not deduct any VAT on costs for those exempt treatments (VAT Act 1968, article 15). Nor on a renovation of the practice room.
Working from home or renting a space: what should you look out for?
On more than tax. If you work from home, you must comply with the municipality's rules. In most municipalities you use no more than a third of your home for your business, the neighbours are not inconvenienced and you do not advertise on your house (Ondernemersplein, starting your own business from home).
Also check in your tenancy agreement or mortgage deed whether a business at home is allowed (Ondernemersplein). If you rent a practice room elsewhere, the rent is simply a business cost. On the other hand, you have a fixed cost, even in a month with few clients.
A practice at home is not a fringe phenomenon. Research in the United Kingdom found that most businesses run from home are full-time businesses and that one in ten has reached a significant scale (Mason, Carter and Tagg, 2011). The researchers point out that these businesses are invisible and are therefore underestimated. It concerns British businesses in all sectors, not care specifically.
If your practice grows, the question also arises whether your own premises or a company would suit you better. Read more about that choice in converting a sole proprietorship into a company: when does it pay.
Sources
- Income Tax Act 2001 (Wet inkomstenbelasting 2001), article 3.16, version of 21 February 2026. wetten.overheid.nl
- Belastingdienst, Werkruimte in de woning (Workspace in the home), accessed 1 November 2026. belastingdienst.nl
- Belastingdienst, Zijn kosten voor de werkruimte in mijn woning aftrekbaar? (Are costs for the workspace in my home deductible?), tool, accessed 1 November 2026. belastingdienst.nl
- Belastingdienst, Zakelijk gebruik woning (Business use of a home), accessed 1 November 2026. belastingdienst.nl
- VAT Act 1968 (Wet op de omzetbelasting 1968), article 15, version of 1 January 2026. wetten.overheid.nl
- Ondernemersplein (KVK, RVO and Belastingdienst), Eigen bedrijf starten vanuit huis (Starting your own business from home), accessed 1 November 2026. ondernemersplein.overheid.nl
- Mason, C. M., Carter, S. & Tagg, S. (2011). Invisible businesses: the characteristics of home-based businesses in the United Kingdom. Regional Studies, 45(5), 625-639. doi.org