Income tax in Denmark

Denmark's welfare state is financed mainly by taxes, and most of the tax system is automatic. The Danish Tax Agency (Skattestyrelsen, skat.dk) receives your pay, pension and bank details directly from employers, banks and others. Most people never file a full tax return: they keep a yearly income budget up to date and check a pre-filled result after the year ends.

Tax residence

You have full tax liability if you live in Denmark or stay here for 6 months in a row (short holidays abroad do not break the period). You then pay Danish tax on your worldwide income. Otherwise you may have limited tax liability. Everyone who works in Denmark pays the labour market contribution. Before you start work, apply for a tax card and personal tax number on skat.dk.

Rates and allowances (2026)

• Labour market contribution (AM-bidrag): 8% of gross pay, deducted first.
• Bottom-bracket tax (bundskat): 12.01%.
• Middle-bracket tax (mellemskat): a further 7.5% on personal income above DKK 641,200. This bracket is new from 2026.
• Top-bracket tax (topskat): a further 7.5% above DKK 777,900.
• Additional top-bracket tax (toptopskat): a further 5% above DKK 2,592,700.
• Municipal tax (kommuneskat): set by each municipality and charged on your taxable income. Your rate is shown on your preliminary income assessment.
• Church tax (kirkeskat): paid by members of the Church of Denmark (folkekirken) together with your other taxes. If you leave the church, you stop paying it.
• Personal allowance (personfradrag): DKK 54,100 for adults. You pay no bottom-bracket or municipal tax on this amount.
• Employment allowance (beskæftigelsesfradrag): 12.75% of earned income, at most DKK 63,300.
• Other deductions, for example for travel to work over 12 km each way, reduce your tax by about one third of the deducted amount.

Filing and paying

• Preliminary income assessment (forskudsopgørelse): your income and tax budget for the coming year, published each November in E-tax (TastSelv). Your employer withholds tax based on it, so update it whenever your income changes.
• Tax assessment notice (årsopgørelse): your final tax result for the past year, available in March. Check it and add missing items, such as some deductions. In 2026 the deadline for changes was extended from 1 May to 20 May.
• If you have foreign income, a sole proprietorship or certain other income, you must file a tax return by 1 July.
• Overpaid tax is refunded to your NemKonto. If you paid too little, you can pay the outstanding tax before 1 July with an interest charge (5.7% in 2026).

Common pitfalls for newcomers

• Foreign income and foreign assets are not reported automatically. You must declare them yourself.
• Without a correct preliminary income assessment, too little or too much tax is withheld. Check it as soon as you get your tax card.
• If church tax appears on your preliminary income assessment but you are not a member of the Church of Denmark, contact Skattestyrelsen to correct it.
• In your first year, your income is converted to a full-year figure to calculate the tax rate, then reduced to the part of the year you lived here.

Official guidance: Skattestyrelsen: tax rates, Skattestyrelsen: tax liability, Skattestyrelsen: tax assessment notice, lifeindenmark.dk: the Danish tax system