Garden Office Tax: What You Can and Can't Claim

If you are an employee working from home, Remote Working Relief lets you claim 30% of the cost of electricity, heating and broadband for the days you work there. A garden office runs off the house supply, so its heat and light are on those bills. The relief does not cover the cost of the building, and it does not cover computers, equipment or furniture you buy yourself.

What Revenue's relief covers, what it leaves out, and what to ask an accountant.

Size my office Get a free quote

Free, no obligation. One local company prices it, not five.

30%of electricity, heating and broadband
Days worked at homeis how the bills are split
Not the buildingand not the furniture

Remote Working Relief, in plain terms

What: 30% of your electricity, heating and broadband costs.
For which days: the days you worked from home in the year. The bills are split by days.
Who: employees whose employer does not pay a working from home amount of €3.20 a day, or pays less than the costs.
How it is given: at your highest rate of tax.
Not covered: laptops, computers, office equipment and office furniture you buy yourself.

Revenue sets it out on its page on remote working. Keep the bills.

A worked example

Say the year's electricity, heating and broadband come to €3,000 and you worked from home on 150 days. The share for those days is €3,000 × 150 ÷ 365 = €1,233. 30% of that is €370. That is the amount the relief is given on: at the 40% rate it is worth €148 off your tax, and at 20% it is €74. The figures are an example, not your bills.

The building itself

Remote Working Relief is about running costs. It gives nothing towards buying or building a garden office, whoever you work for.

If you are self-employed, or your own company would pay for the office, the tax position turns on who owns it, who uses it and what else it is used for. That is a question for your accountant before you order, not after. How it is paid for is hard to change later.

Three things to ask an accountant

If the business pays, what can it claim on the building, the fit-out and the equipment?
If I use it at weekends as well, does that change anything?
Does working from a building in the garden affect anything when I sell the house?

The running costs the relief is about

What	Typical cost	What moves the price
Heating it in winter	€20 to €40 a month	Insulation, hours of use, the heater
An electric radiator	from €350	Size of the room
An air-to-air heat pump	€800 to €1,500	Heats in winter and cools in summer
A mesh wifi kit	€80 to €150	Only if no data cable goes in the trench

Heat, light and broadband are the costs Remote Working Relief is based on. The prices here are our guide to them.

Every guide, calculator and county page

Jump straight to any specification guide, our interactive calculator, the technical glossary or your county page.

More on garden offices

Costs, sizes, pods, insulation, planning and studios.

A flat-roofed garden office in dark cladding at the end of a back garden

What a garden office costsEvery size, priced. A one-desk pod is €6,700 to €10,500.

Office podsOne desk, 6 to 9 m². The smallest building that works all year.

Charred black timber cladding with a window and a wall lamp

Insulated officesWalls, floor, roof and glass. What to ask for in millimetres.

A long, low building in black metal cladding on a lawn

Planning permission30 m² for all garden buildings together, 3 m high, behind the house.

A desk and chair under a wide window inside a timber-lined garden office

What size to getOne desk, two desks, or a desk and a meeting table.

Two dark green timber buildings joined by a deck

Garden studiosMusic, art and treatment rooms. What changes from an office.

Garden offices in every county

Questions people ask

Can I claim a garden office against tax in Ireland?

As an employee, no: the relief covers 30% of electricity, heating and broadband for days worked at home, not the building. If a business pays, ask an accountant.

Does a garden office count as working from home?

Yes. It is at your home and runs off the house's electricity and broadband.

Can I claim for the desk and chair?

Not under Remote Working Relief. Furniture and equipment you buy yourself are not covered.

My employer pays €3.20 a day. Can I still claim?

The relief is for where the employer pays nothing or pays less than your costs. Check Revenue's remote working pages for your case.

Is this tax advice?

No. It is what the relief covers, in plain words. For your own position, ask Revenue or an accountant.

Get a price for your garden office

One garden office company that covers your county. Free, no obligation. Nothing is ordered until you say yes.