Can you claim a coworking space or office rent as a freelancer? Desks, studios, private use, rent paid ahead and your home office under the IRS, HMRC and CRA rules (US, UK, Canada)

A hot desk a few days a week, a coworking membership, a small studio or an office of your own: plenty of freelancers pay for somewhere to work outside the house. Here's what the IRS, HMRC and the CRA say about claiming that rent, what none of them say about coworking, where it goes on each return, what happens with private use, rent paid ahead and rent paid to a relative, how a rented desk can affect a working-from-home claim, and what to keep.

General information, not tax, legal or accounting advice. Not written or reviewed by a lawyer or an accountant. The short answer, the side-by-side summary, the steps, the checklist, the wording to copy and all the other wording are ours; the official items come from the US, UK and Canadian government pages linked below. This page is about a self-employed person (a sole proprietor or sole trader) paying for an office, a studio or a coworking desk or membership. It doesn't tell you whether a particular payment counts, what share of a space is business, or which line or box applies to you, and it doesn't cover working-from-home calculations, leases and lease premiums, buying or improving premises, renting equipment or vehicles, travel to the space, employees, companies, VAT, GST/HST or sales tax on rent, US states, Canadian provinces, Quebec, or other countries. Rules change; check the current official pages before you claim. Official pages were read on 2026-10-20.

The short answer

1. US: the small business publication says "Rent is any amount you pay for the use of property you do not own." "In general, you can deduct rent as a business expense only if the rent is for property you use in your business." The instructions for the business schedule add "Enter on line 20b amounts paid to rent or lease other property, such as office space in a building."
2. UK: GOV.UK's office, property and equipment page lists "rent for business premises" among the costs you can claim, and the return notes put it in the rent, rates, power and insurance costs box; see sections three and four.
3. Canada: the CRA's rent line says "You can deduct rent incurred for property used in your business. For example, you can deduct rent for the land and building where your business is situated."
4. Coworking? None of the official pages we read name coworking spaces, hot desks or serviced offices. Our reading is that a desk or membership you pay for to work in space you don't own is rent for business space in all three countries; see "Where the sources differ".
5. Also working from home? Rent on your home has its own rules in each country, and in the US a rented desk where you do your admin work can affect whether your home office qualifies; see sections two and six.

On this page

• 1. United States: rent for business space
• 2. United States: a rented desk and your home office
• 3. United Kingdom: rent for business premises
• 4. United Kingdom: the return notes and HMRC's manual
• 5. Canada: the rent line
• 6. Canada: rent paid ahead and your home workspace
• 7. Side by side
• 8. Step by step
• 9. Wording to copy
• 10. Checklist
• Free tools and kits
• Where the sources differ
• When to get advice
• Related
• Sources

1. United States: rent for business space

• The general rule: "To be deductible, a business expense must be both ordinary and necessary. An ordinary expense is one that is common and accepted in your field of business. A necessary expense is one that is helpful and appropriate for your business."
• Rent Expense: "Rent is any amount you pay for the use of property you do not own." "In general, you can deduct rent as a business expense only if the rent is for property you use in your business." "If you have or will receive equity in or title to the property, you can’t deduct the rent." (IRS: Publication 334 (2025), Tax Guide for Small Business, page date 30-Apr-2026).
• Where it goes: under Lines 20a and 20b, the instructions say "Enter on line 20b amounts paid to rent or lease other property, such as office space in a building." Rented equipment has its own line: "If you rented or leased vehicles, machinery, or equipment, enter on line 20a the business portion of your rental cost." (IRS: Instructions for Schedule C (Form 1040) (2025), page date 30-Apr-2026).
• Private use: "If you have an expense that is partly for business and partly personal, separate the personal part from the business part." "The personal part is generally not deductible."
• Renting from a relative: under Unreasonable rent. the publication says "You can’t take a rental deduction for unreasonable rents. Ordinarily, the issue of reasonableness arises only if you and the lessor are related. Rent paid to a related person is reasonable if it is the same amount you would pay to a stranger for use of the same property." "Related persons include members of your immediate family, including siblings (either whole or half), your spouse, ancestors, and lineal descendants."
• Paying ahead: under Rent paid in advance. it says "Generally, rent paid in your business is deductible in the year paid or accrued. If you pay rent in advance, you can deduct only the amount that applies to your use of the rented property during the tax year. You can deduct the rest of your payment only over the period to which it applies."

An older IRS publication adds a twelve-month rule for costs paid ahead, and the two don't agree on a plan that runs into the next year; our software subscriptions guide sets out both. For the schedule itself, see Schedule C for US freelancers.

2. United States: a rented desk and your home office

• Rent on your home. "If you rent your home and use part of it as your place of business, you may be able to deduct the rent you pay for that part. You must meet the requirements for business use of your home."
• More than one place of work: under Principal Place of Business, the home office publication says "You can have more than one business location, including your home, for a single trade or business." "Your home office will qualify as your principal place of business if you meet the following requirements."
  • You use it exclusively and regularly for administrative or management activities of your trade or business.
  • You have no other fixed location where you conduct substantial administrative or management activities of your trade or business.
• What doesn't count against it: "The following activities performed by you or others will not disqualify your home office from being your principal place of business." The list includes "You occasionally conduct minimal administrative or management activities at a fixed location outside your home." and "You have suitable space to conduct administrative or management activities outside your home, but choose to use your home office for those activities instead." (IRS: Publication 587 (2025), Business Use of Your Home, page date 30-Apr-2026).

Our reading: if you do your billing, bookkeeping and other admin work at a rented desk most of the time, your home may not count as your principal place of business, so check the publication before you claim both. The home office deduction itself is covered in the business use of your home section of our Schedule C guide.

3. United Kingdom: rent for business premises

• Running costs: "If you’re self-employed - a sole trader or individual in a business partnership - you can claim items you’d normally use for less than 2 years as allowable expenses, for example:"
  • stationery
  • rent, rates, power and insurance costs
  "You cannot claim for any non-business use of premises, phones or other office resources."
• Rents, rates, power and insurance costs: "You can claim expenses for costs such as:"
  • rent for business premises
  • business and water rates
  • utility bills
  • property insurance
  • security
  • using your home as an office (only the part that’s used for business)
  "If you’re not sure whether a business cost is an allowable expense contact HMRC."
• Business premises: "If you build, buy or lease a structure you may be able to claim structures and buildings allowance." "You can claim expenses for repairs and maintenance of business premises and equipment." (GOV.UK: Expenses if you're self-employed, office, property and equipment, page date 2024-11-08).
• Business and personal use: "You can only claim allowable expenses for the business costs." (GOV.UK: Expenses if you're self-employed, page date 2024-11-08).

Working from home, including a share of the rent on your home and the flat rates, is covered in our UK Self Assessment guide.

4. United Kingdom: the return notes and HMRC's manual

• On the return: the notes for the full self-employment pages say, under Box 21 Rent, rates, power and insurance costs, "This includes, for example, rent for business premises, business and water rates, light, heat, power, property insurance, security, and the business use of your home (business proportion or simplified expenses amount)." "The costs of any non-business part, or private use of the business premises and the costs of buying business premises are disallowable expenses. If you include them, you also need to put these in box 36." (HMRC: Self-employment (full) notes, Tax year 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026 (2025–26), PDF). If you use the short pages or give one total for expenses, check the notes for how to show a disallowable part.
• HMRC's manual: HMRC's internal manual for its staff says "Expenses connected with premises or land occupied by a trader for the purposes of their trade will normally be allowed as a deduction unless the expenses relate to a capital matter (see BIM35000 onwards)." "Normal principles apply such as the ‘wholly and exclusively’ rule (see BIM37000 onwards)." "Examples of allowable expenses include:"
  • rent paid by a trader to the landlord for premises they use for business purposes
  • business rates, Council Tax or ground rents
  • the cost of insurance, whether of the building or of the contents
  (HMRC: BIM46801 - Specific deductions: rent and rates: introduction, page date 2016-04-01).

Our reading: the box also holds rates, power, insurance and the business part of your home, so keep your own note of how much of it is rent. When a payment made ahead counts depends on whether you use cash basis or traditional accounting; our cash vs accrual guide covers both.

5. Canada: the rent line

• The general rule: "Generally, you can deduct any reasonable current expense you incur to earn business income." "However, since you cannot deduct personal expenses, enter only the business part of expenses on the Form T2125, Statement of Business or Professional Activities." (CRA: Expenses section of Form T2125, page date 2026-08-31).
• Rent: "You can deduct rent incurred for property used in your business. For example, you can deduct rent for the land and building where your business is situated." (CRA: Line 8910 – Rent, page date 2026-08-31).

The expense lines sit in the expenses part of your statement of business or professional activities: see our guide for Canadian freelancers.

6. Canada: rent paid ahead and your home workspace

• Rent paid ahead: the CRA's page on prepaid expenses says "A prepaid expense is an expense you paid for ahead of time." "Under the accrual method of accounting, claim the expense you prepay in the year or years in which you get the related benefit." Its example: "Suppose your fiscal year end is December 31, 2025. On June 30, 2025, you prepay the rent on your building for a full year (July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026). You can only deduct one-half of this rent as an expense in 2025. You can deduct the other half as an expense in 2026." Under the cash method: "Under the cash method of accounting, you cannot deduct a prepaid expense amount (other than for inventory) relating to a tax year that is two or more years after the year the expense is paid." (CRA: Prepaid expenses, page date 2026-08-31).
• Your home workspace: the rent line page says "The rent expense related to business use of workspace in your home has to be claimed as business-use-of-home expenses." The guide says "The rent expense related to the business use of your home has to be claimed on line 9945 in Part 5." (CRA: Guide Self-employed Business, Professional, Commission, Farming, and Fishing Income: Chapter 3 – Expenses, page date 2026-04-16).

Which method you use is covered in our cash vs accrual guide, and the conditions for claiming a workspace in your home in the business use of your home section of our guide for Canadian freelancers.

7. Side by side

Our summary of sections one to six, not official wording.

8. Step by step

Our order of steps, based on sections one to six — not an official checklist.

1. List every payment in the year for business space you don’t own: an office, a studio, a coworking desk or membership, with the date and the period it covered.
2. Check what each payment covers. If a membership also includes things like mail handling, printing, a phone line, drinks or events, note those parts separately.
3. If you also use the space for personal things, work out the business part with a reasonable method you can explain, and keep a note of it.
4. If you rent from a relative, check that the rent is what you would pay a stranger for the same space.
5. If you paid ahead for a period that runs past the end of your tax year, note which part belongs to which year.
6. If you also claim for working from home, check how the rented space affects that claim, using the home sections of our tax return guides.
7. Check which line or box your tax office uses for rent, and use the same one from year to year.
8. Keep the agreement or terms, each invoice and proof of payment.
9. Ask the tax office or an adviser if you’re unsure, especially about a long lease, buying premises, renting from family or a space you also live in.

9. Wording to copy

Fill in everything in [brackets]. This is ours, not from any agency, and it's not tax, legal or accounting advice. It doesn't take the place of the agreements, invoices and records your tax office may ask for.

A record of your business space for your files

Business space record (my own records, not an official document)
Tax year: [year or period]
Space: [office / studio / coworking desk / coworking membership / other], at [address or name of the space]
Provider or landlord: [name], related to me: [no / yes, how]
Agreement: [lease / membership terms / pay as you go], from [date] to [date]
Payment: [invoice number or date], paid on [date], amount [amount], covers [period]
Extras included: [none / mail handling / printing / phone line / meeting rooms / drinks / events / other], amount if shown: [amount]
Private use: [none / yes, business part worked out as: method]
Paid ahead into the next tax year: [no / yes, part for this year: amount]
Also claiming for working from home: [no / yes, see my home office records]
Line or box used: [line or box]
Invoice and agreement kept at: [where]

A request to your coworking space for an itemised invoice

Hi [provider's name],

Could you send an invoice for [period] that shows the desk or office fee separately from any other items, such as [mail handling], [printing], [meeting rooms] or [drinks]?

[If I paid for more than one month at once, could the invoice show the period each part covers?]

That way my records match what I paid for. Thanks,
[your name]

10. Checklist

Our summary of the official pages above, not an official checklist.

• Every office, studio, desk or coworking payment in the year, with dates and periods
• What each payment covered, with any extras noted separately
• The business part of any space you also use privately, and how you worked it out
• Rent paid to a relative checked against what a stranger would pay
• Any rent paid ahead split by tax year
• Your working-from-home claim checked against the rented space
• The agreement or terms, invoices and proof of payment kept
• The line or box you used on your return
• Anything you’re not sure about, checked with the tax office or an adviser

Free tools and kits

• Our free expense tracking guide shows a simple way to keep business cost records.
• Our free expense and receipt log keeps the details for each payment.
• Our paid Freelance Billing Kit by Small Rows (US$12, one-time) can log each rent or membership payment: the Expenses tab has a date, a category, a description, the amount paid and a "Deductible? (your call)" column, and the category drop-down lets you pick the rent or lease line for other business property from the US list or the rent, rates, power and insurance costs box from the UK list, or type your own, such as rent. Each row counts in full in the year of its date, so if you paid ahead into the next tax year, enter each year's part as its own row; to count only the business part of a space you also use privately, enter a row marked Yes and a row marked No. It doesn't work out a business share, decide what counts, check your working-from-home claim, pick the line or box for you, store agreements or file anything.
• All three kits together: the All-Kits Bundle by Small Rows (US$24, one-time).

Where the sources differ

• Coworking isn't named: none of the IRS, GOV.UK, HMRC or CRA pages we read mention coworking spaces, hot desks or serviced offices; they talk about rent for property, office space in a building, business premises and the land and building where your business is situated. Our reading is that paying for a desk or membership to work in space you don't own is rent for business space in all three countries, but check with your tax office or an adviser if you're unsure.
• Extras in a membership: the pages we read don't say how to treat a membership that also includes things like mail handling, printing, a phone line, drinks or events. Our reading is that an invoice that shows those parts separately is the simplest record, and that those parts may follow their own rules, such as the phone and internet rules in our phone and internet bills guide.
• A rented desk and a US home office: the home office publication allows more than one business location, but a home office used for admin work only qualifies as your principal place of business if you have no other fixed location where you do substantial admin work; occasional minimal admin work elsewhere, or choosing your home office although space is available elsewhere, doesn't disqualify it. Our reading is that a desk where you regularly do your admin work can affect the claim, so check the publication before you claim both.
• Private use of the space: all three tax offices say to count only the business part, but apart from the working-from-home rules, none of the pages we read say how to split the cost of a rented space you also use for personal things. Our reading is that you should use a reasonable method you can explain and keep a note of it.
• Rent paid ahead: the IRS publication and the CRA's prepaid expenses page say to claim rent paid ahead in the period it covers (the CRA's rule is for the accrual method, with a separate limit under the cash method), and the CRA's own example is a year's rent on a building. The UK pages we read don't mention rent paid ahead. Our reading is that in the UK it depends on whether you use cash basis or traditional accounting; check with HMRC or an accountant.
• Renting from a relative: the IRS publication says rent paid to a related person is reasonable if it's what you would pay a stranger, but the UK and Canadian pages we read say nothing about renting from family. Our reading is that a market rent with a written agreement is the clearest record everywhere; ask an adviser.
• The UK running costs list: GOV.UK puts rent, rates, power and insurance among items you'd normally use for less than two years. Our reading is that this is GOV.UK's way of calling them running costs; buying premises is a different matter, and the return notes call it disallowable.
• HMRC's manual: it is internal guidance for HMRC staff, and its page date is years old. Our reading is that GOV.UK's public pages are the starting point and the manual explains HMRC's approach.
• Page dates and editions: the IRS publications and instructions are the editions for the latest tax year, and the CRA guide is its latest edition; GOV.UK's expenses pages and HMRC's manual page carry older page dates. Our reading is that the rules above are current, but check the live pages and later editions before you file.
• What we did not check: leases and lease premiums; the costs of getting, changing or ending a lease; security deposits; improvements to rented premises; the structures and buildings allowance beyond the GOV.UK line above; buying premises; renting equipment or vehicles; subletting; business rates; VAT, GST/HST and sales tax on rent; travel between your home and the space; information returns you may have to file when you pay rent; working-from-home calculations; employees, partnerships and companies; the short self-employment pages line by line; US state rules; Quebec and provincial rules; other countries' rules.

When to get advice

• you're signing a lease, paying a premium or deposit, or improving the space;
• you're thinking of buying premises rather than renting;
• you rent from a relative or a company you own;
• you also live in the space, or use it for personal things;
• you claim for working from home as well as paying for a desk or office;
• you have a partner or a company, or you're registered for VAT, GST/HST or sales tax.

Talk to an accountant or a tax adviser in your country. This page is general information only.

Related

• Freelance expense tracking
• Schedule C for US freelancers
• UK Self Assessment for freelancers
• Canadian self-employment statement for freelancers
• Cash vs accrual accounting
• Software subscriptions
• Phone and internet bills

Sources

• United States: IRS: Publication 334 (2025), Tax Guide for Small Business, page date 30-Apr-2026 · IRS: Instructions for Schedule C (Form 1040) (2025), page date 30-Apr-2026 · IRS: Publication 587 (2025), Business Use of Your Home, page date 30-Apr-2026
• United Kingdom: GOV.UK: Expenses if you're self-employed, page date 2024-11-08 · GOV.UK: Expenses if you're self-employed, office, property and equipment, page date 2024-11-08 · HMRC: Self-employment (full) notes (Tax year 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026 (2025–26), PDF) · HMRC: BIM46801 - Specific deductions: rent and rates: introduction, page date 2016-04-01
• Canada: CRA: Expenses section of Form T2125, page date 2026-08-31 · CRA: Line 8910 – Rent, page date 2026-08-31 · CRA: Guide Self-employed Business, Professional, Commission, Farming, and Fishing Income: Chapter 3 – Expenses, page date 2026-04-16 · CRA: Prepaid expenses, page date 2026-08-31

Checked 2026-10-20. Found a mistake? Tell us via Support.