Household deduction for gardening

Work. Children. Dinner. Exercise. Cleaning. Meetings. Somewhere in between, the grass needs to be cut, the hedges trimmed, the weeds removed and that flowerbed that was supposed to be fixed in 2024... right now looks like a small nature reserve. Sounds familiar?

Gardening should be fun. But sometimes you just don't want to. And that's why it can be a good comfort to know that you can get a household deduction if someone else does the gardening for you.

Pretty good deal, right?

The household deduction doesn't just apply to cleaning and renovation. The tax administration also counts yard maintenance work as household work that can qualify for a household deduction. This can include, for example, raking, snow removal and various types of gardening.

This means that when you hire a company to help with the garden, part of the labor cost can be deducted from your taxes.
And suddenly it might feel a little less of a burden to let someone else take care of the weeds.

Right now, for work that qualifies for household deduction, you can deduct 35% of the labor cost when you buy the service from a company. The deductible is 150 euros per person per year and the maximum household deduction is 1,600 euros per person per year.

And it is important to remember that it is the labor cost that qualifies for the deduction. Materials and travel costs are not included, so the labor cost needs to be clearly specified on the invoice.

You need to hire a company that meets the conditions for household deduction and save the invoice. The company must, among other things, be in the advance collection register. Then you declare the household deduction to the Tax Administration.

Remember! The rules for household deduction are subject to change. There is currently a proposal to increase the household deduction. Therefore, always check the current rules with the Tax Administration when it is time to declare.

Many of us have a slightly strange idea that free time should automatically be filled with things that have to be done.
But what if the garden instead became the place where you don't have to do everything yourself?
Where you let an expert take care of the garden, so that you can just enjoy it.
Because the truth is that you definitely don't need to feel guilty for wanting to use your free time for something other than taking care of the little nature reserve you've managed to create.