Tax in Denmark: how to get started
If you have started working in Denmark, you need to register with the Danish Tax Agency. Find out how to get a CPR number, your preliminary income assessment and tax card, and what you need to do before you receive your first salary.
How tax works in Denmark
In Denmark, you pay:
- a labour market contribution, AM-bidrag
- municipal income tax
- state income tax
If you are liable to pay tax in Denmark, you may also be entitled to tax deductions. Which deductions you can claim depends on your tax liability.
Skattestyrelsen – Denmark's Tax Agency
If you work in Denmark, you normally pay tax to the Danish Tax Agency, Skattestyrelsen.
Skattestyrelsen is the Danish authority responsible for tax. You use Skattestyrelsen to apply for a tax card, update your preliminary income assessment, access your tax information and submit your annual tax return.
Contact Skattestyrelsen if you have questions about your tax, need to update your tax information or stop working in Denmark. This helps ensure that your tax records are up to date.
Read about Danish tax affairs at skat.dk
CPR number – your Danish personal ID number
Everyone who lives or works in Denmark needs a Danish personal ID number, CPR number. It is issued at birth to people born in Denmark or when you are registered in the Danish Civil Registration System.
If you commute from Sweden to work in Denmark, you receive a CPR number when you apply for your tax card. Your CPR number is valid for life.
See our page about getting a Danish CPR number or tax number
Forskudsopgørelse – your preliminary income assessment
When you apply for a tax card and a CPR number, you also receive a preliminary income assessment, forskudsopgørelse. It allows your employer to deduct the correct amount of tax from your salary.
Your forskudsopgørelse contains Skattestyrelsen's estimate of your income and tax deductions for the year. If any information is incorrect or missing, you must update it. Otherwise, you may pay too much tax or too little tax during the year. Any difference is settled when your annual tax assessment, årsopgørelse, is issued.
If your employer does not have the information needed to calculate your tax, they must deduct 8% labour market contribution, AM-bidrag, and 55% tax on the remaining amount.
You can view and update your forskudsopgørelse in TastSelv.
Read about your preliminary income assessment at skat.dk
TastSelv - electronic service system
You use TastSelv to manage your Danish tax online. To access TastSelv, you need a MitID. If you cannot get a MitID, you can request a TastSelv code instead.
In TastSelv, you can:
- check your income information
- update your preliminary income assessment, forskudsopgørelse
- submit your Danish tax return after the end of the tax year
Get a Tastselv code at skat.dk
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