Home office depreciation (Spain)

Scope: Spain. This guidance is for freelancers who are tax-resident in Spain.

As explained on the page about deductible expenses for Spanish freelancers, you may deduct costs related to your home office/workspace to reduce IRPF. To be deductible, it must be a clearly defined area of your dwelling used exclusively for your professional activity.

You may deduct only the proportional share occupied by the office/exclusive work area. The Tax Agency does not allow deductions for common areas (e.g., bathroom, kitchen). Such rooms could be included only if they are used exclusively for the professional activity (e.g., an en-suite bathroom used solely during work).

Acquisition cost vs depreciation (amortisation)
The purchase price of the dwelling/office is not a deductible expense itself (it’s an investment). You may deduct annual depreciation instead. As a rule of thumb in Spain, housing depreciation is 3% of the higher of (i) cadastral value or (ii) purchase value (including purchase costs), minus land value (land does not depreciate). The land value appears on the IBI bill or can be checked on the Catastro site (digital certificate).

Example (Spain):

Flat of 70 m² bought for €220,000 + €20,800 purchase costs.
Cadastral total: €110,000; cadastral land value: €40,000.
Net base value: €220,000 + €20,800 − €40,000 = €200,800.
One room of 15 m² is used → 21% of the dwelling.
Annual depreciable amount: €200,800 × 21% × 3% = €1,265.04.

Formal requirement
You must register the home office with the Tax Agency by filing Modelo 036, stating the percentage of the dwelling used for the professional activity.