You bought a new laptop for work. €1,200. Can you deduct that on your tax return?
Yes — a laptop is tax deductible when it’s used for your professional activity. How you deduct it depends on the price: under €1,000 you deduct the full amount in the year of purchase; over €1,000 you depreciate it over several years. There’s an important cut-off: €1,000.
The €1,000 rule
When you buy equipment for your professional activity, the price determines how you’ll deduct it:
Up to €1,000: Deduct the full amount in the year of purchase. Simple and direct.
Bought a €800 phone in January? Deduct €800 as an expense that year.
Over €1,000: depreciation applies (see below). Instead of deducting everything at once, you deduct a portion each year over the equipment’s useful life.
How to depreciate a laptop over 4 years
When a laptop (or other computing/electronic equipment) costs more than €1,000, you can’t deduct it all in one year — you depreciate it (amortização). For computing equipment the estimated useful life is typically 4 years, which means you deduct 25% per year.
Example: Diogo bought a MacBook Pro for €2,400.
- Annual deduction: €2,400 × 25% = €600
- Over 4 years: €600/year
Over 4 years, he deducts the full value — just spread out over time. The same 25%-over-4-years depreciation applies to any laptop, desktop or camera above the €1,000 threshold.
Computer tax deduction: 100% or partial?
If the computer is used exclusively for work → you deduct 100%.
If it’s mixed use (work + personal) → you deduct the professional proportion.
How do you calculate that proportion? By a reasonable estimate of professional use. If you work 8 hours a day and use the computer personally for 2 hours → 80% professional.
The tax authority won’t measure your screen time to the minute — but it needs to be an honest, consistent estimate. Never declare 100% on a computer you clearly also use for gaming or streaming.
Phone: the 50% rule
The phone is a special case. The tax authority assumes you don’t use your phone 100% for work — you also call family, use personal WhatsApp, etc.
The common and accepted practice is to deduct 50% of the phone’s cost as a professional expense.
If you bought a phone for €900:
- Deductible amount: €900 × 50% = €450
- Since this is below €1,000, you deduct it in full in the year of purchase
Camera, tripod, profession-specific equipment
For those whose camera is their primary work tool (photographer, videographer), the camera is 100% professional and fully deductible. Note the same €1,000 rule: a camera body or lens that costs more than €1,000 is depreciated at 25% per year over 4 years, rather than deducted all at once.
The same principle applies to other profession-specific equipment:
- Microphone for podcasters or content creators
- Drawing tablet for illustrators
- Specific instruments for musicians
The logic: if it’s a tool you use exclusively (or almost exclusively) in your professional activity, it’s fully deductible.
What’s required
To deduct the equipment, it must be documented:
- Invoice issued in your name with your NIF — an anonymous cash receipt won’t do
- Invoice issued by a shop, not a private seller
Keep invoices in digital format. You may need them for up to 4 years.
How FIZ handles equipment
In FIZ’s expenses module:
- Log the purchase with amount, “Equipment” category, and date
- For amounts over €1,000, indicate it’s depreciable
- The system automatically calculates the annual depreciation
- The correct amount flows into that year’s expenses — no calculations needed
At year-end, the figures are ready for your income tax return’s Annex B.
✅ In summary
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Under €1,000: deduct everything in the year of purchase. Above that, depreciation applies — typically 25% per year over 4 years for tech equipment.
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Phone: deduct 50% (mixed use assumed by the tax authority). Camera or profession-exclusive equipment: 100%. Computer: 100% if exclusive, proportional if mixed use.
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With FIZ you log the equipment once and the system automatically calculates annual depreciation — no spreadsheets, no manual formulas.
