Question:
I understand that one can deduct expenses from their maaser obligation if those expenses are needed to be able to bring in the income e.g. travelling, internet, rent of an office etc.
However, I work from home 100% of the time. So does that mean I can deduct my mortgage payments or at least a fraction of those payments as I do need to use my home to work? My company doesn’t have any offices and requires fully remote working.
Answer:
Hello,
The reason why business expenses can be deducted from one’s earnings, is because these expenses are part of the investment that the person has to make in order to earn the money. Therefore, that amount of money was not earned at all. Therefore, if one has to rent an office, and pay for electricity, etc. it is deducted from his net profits. In your instance though you are not paying any extra mortgage because your office is in your house, because you would pay this amount to the bank for your personal needs. If however you have extra electricity expenses, because you work from home, that would be deducted, (this however will usually be only a small amount).
Best wishes
