Are you moving to Denmark, or do you have securities, a pension or shares abroad? Then these four tax pitfalls are worth knowing.
When you take up residence in Denmark, you normally become fully tax liable from day one, and Denmark taxes your worldwide income. In the first year you will not receive an automatic tax assessment notice. Instead, you must file an information form (oplysningsskema) with the Danish Tax Agency (Skattestyrelsen), reporting your income, deductions and assets abroad. The tax for your first year is then worked out in three steps:
Step 1: Your Danish income is converted to a full-year income. You pay the share of the tax that relates to your time in Denmark.
Step 2: Your actual income for the whole year is calculated, including income earned abroad before you moved.
Step 3: If the converted income is higher, you can choose to be taxed on your actual income instead.
SkatteInform.dk calculates both options before you file.
| Example (fictional numbers)
Anna moves to Denmark on 1 October and earns DKK 150,000 here by year-end. Earlier in the year, she earned DKK 90,000 abroad. Step 1: Converted income: DKK 150,000 × 4 = DKK 600,000. Step 2: Actual income: DKK 150,000 + 90,000 = DKK 240,000. Step 3: Anna chooses her actual income. The tax is calculated on a much lower amount, which typically means lower tax. |
Shares
If you own shares in an unlisted company, Denmark or abroad, the day you become tax liable in Denmark is an important date. The shares are treated as acquired at their market value on that day. That value becomes your starting point when Denmark later taxes again. Because unlisted shares are not traded on a stock exchange, there is no official price, so the value has to be estimated. If the value is set too low, you will pay Danish tax on a gain that was really created before you moved. If you later leave Denmark, the value can also matter for Danish exit tax. On departure, Denmark normally taxes the increase in value as if you had sold, measured from the value on arrival.
| Example (fictional numbers)
Shares worth DKK 2 million on arrival are later sold for DKK 3 million. The Danish gain is DKK 1 million. If the arrival value had been set at DKK 1 million, the gain would be DKK 2 million, which can mean up to DKK 420,000 more in tax. |
The Danish Tax Agency uses its own valuation guidelines as a starting point, but is not bound by them. They typically look at the company’s equity and recent earnings. Other methods, such as expected future earnings or recent share sales, may give a more accurate value. A valuation is only as strong as its documentation, so have the shares valued as of the date you become tax liable.
Pension scheme from abroad
If you bring a pension scheme from abroad, you must also report it to Denmark, and depending on its classification, Denmark may tax the return every year, even before any
payout. Under the Danish Pension Taxation Act, foreign schemes generally fall into three groups:
- Schemes approved as equivalent to Danish schemes. The pension provider handles the Danish pension return tax.
- Section 53 B schemes. Set up while you were not tax liable in Denmark, with all contributions deductible abroad. The return is not taxed in Denmark, but payouts are.
- Section 53 A schemes. Other foreign schemes. The annual return is taxed as capital income, and you must calculate and report it yourself.
The last group is where mistakes happen. The classification is not always obvious: the Danish Tax Council has, for example, treated a British SIPP as a section 53 A scheme, while US IRA schemes have been classified differently depending on the facts. Unreported returns can be reassessed several years back. Payouts are also taxed in Denmark unless you can show that contributions came from already-taxed income, which can be hard to document.
Strict rules for securities in foreign accounts
Securities held with a foreign bank or broker are taxed as if they were in a Danish account. But the Danish Tax Agency receives no information from foreign banks. You must calculate and report gains, losses and dividends yourself. For listed shares, a loss is only deductible if the Tax Agency has received details of the purchase by July 1st in the year after you bought the shares. The details are the share’s identity (such as its ISIN), the number of shares, the purchase date and the price including costs. If you bring shares with you when you move to Denmark, the deadline is counted from the year you became tax liable. Miss the deadline, and the right to deduct the loss is lost for good, while gains are still taxed. The National Tax Tribunal confirmed this in a decision from May 2026. Dividends from foreign shares must also be reported, together with the foreign tax withheld. In 2026, share income is taxed at 27% up to DKK 79,400 and 42% above. Make sure your foreign bank knows you live in Denmark, so the correct withholding tax under the tax treaty is applied. Otherwise you risk paying tax twice.
Why it pays to get advice early
These four pitfalls have one thing in common: timing. The right valuation, classification or filing is cheap to get right in the beginning and expensive to fix later, and several deadlines and choices are binding. SkatteInform.dk is a Copenhagen firm of state-authorised public accountants and tax advisers working with international tax for individuals and businesses.
Get a free quote
Contact SkatteInform.dk for a free, no-obligation quote. This article is general guidance and reflects the rules as of November 2026. It does not replace individual advice.
