Optical properties of two intermetallic compounds TbNi4Fe and TbNi4Co have been studied employing ellipsometry in a spectral range 0.22–15 μm to reveal their characteristic features in comparison with the parent compound TbNi5. The electronic structure of TbNi4Fe and TbNi4Co was calculated within the LSDA + U method (local spin density approximation with Hubbard U-correction). Based on the calculated electronic structure results, the theoretical optical conductivity was calculated and used to interpret experimental conductivity in the range of interband optical absorption. © 2014, Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.