Your tax liability determines which deductions you are entitled to
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Your tax liability determines which deductions you are entitled to. The type of tax liability applicable to you depends on factors such as whether you are married, and whether you have a residence in your home country.
There are four types of tax liability. Read more about Tax liability and in Your guide to working in Denmark.
You must be registered before you can work and pay tax in Denmark. You can apply for a Danish tax card and a personal tax number at 'Tax card and personal tax number'. More information about the tax card is available at 'Understand your tax card'.
You will also need a NemID, which is your digital signature. It is a single login for Danish internet banks and government websites. You use NemID to log on to the self-service system, E-tax (TastSelv). You can get help with NemID at nemid.nu.
You can also use your NemID to register your foreign bank account as a NemKonto. All individuals and businesses in Denmark are required to have a NemKonto (Easy Account) for payments from the public sector. Contact a bank in order to open an account. The bank will tell you what documents you need to provide.
You can get more help by calling the Danish Tax Agency on (+45) 72 22 18 18 or by visiting International Citizen Service (ICS).
In Denmark, most tax information and procedures are automated via the self-service system, E-tax (TastSelv). This means that most taxpayers do not even have to file a tax return, as all the relevant information has already been reported to the tax authorities by employers, trade unions, banks, etc.
The following two documents are essential to your tax matters:
Your preliminary income assessment is kind of your current income and tax budget for the present year. It tells you about your expected income, tax deductions and allowances and the tax rate used by your employer to withhold tax.
Your preliminary income assessment is available each year in November, and it shows the tax authorities’ estimate of your tax for the coming year. If your financial situation changes, you should change your preliminary income assessment in order to pay the right amount of tax throughout the year.
When you make changes to your preliminary income assessment, you also make changes to your tax card which is automatically sent to whoever pays your salary, student grant or pension.
You can see and change your preliminary income assessment in E-tax (logon window).
If you want to see your actual earnings, your tax deductions and allowances and how much you paid in tax last year, you need to check your tax assessment notice (see below).
Your tax assessment notice is a summary of your tax for the past year, showing your income, tax deductions and allowances and tax paid.
It tells you if you are entitled to a refund of overpaid tax or if you have paid too little tax. If you are entitled to a refund, the amount will be transferred to your account automatically in most cases.
When you start your own business, you will be classified into one of four categories for tax purposes. The category is key in determining, for example, the deduction value of your expenses and whether loss is deductible.
Read more about how you clarify your business status for tax purposes and examples of employees.
If you live outside Denmark, are employed by an enterprise which is not Danish, and you are going to perform work in a Danish enterprise, you are liable to pay 8% labour market contributions and 30% international hiring-out of labour tax. The Danish enterprise pays the tax on your behalf. After that, your employer deducts the Danish tax before he pays you your salary.
If you disagree with a decision or the way your case has been handled, you can either:
As in other countries tax legislation is complicated in Denmark.
You can read about the Danish tax laws in the legal guide (Danish version only) of the Danish Customs and Tax Administration. It is a detailed guide in Danish with relevant reference to EU rules and court decisions that form the basis for case processing.
As a service you can apply for a binding ruling from us if you are in doubt about what a specific transaction will mean for you or your business’s payment of tax, VAT or duties. A fee of DKK 400 is charged for a binding ruling.
You can apply for a binding ruling either online or use the paper form here 'Apply for a binding ruling'. The average response time is three to six months.
