Tax in Denmark: high, but predictable
The Danish system is higher than the Dutch one, but has few surprises for whoever sets the advance correctly: 8 per cent labour market contribution on your salary, then state and municipal tax. The Netherlands meanwhile keeps taxing your AOW and pension: the 1996 treaty was tilted towards source-state taxation by the 2018 protocol, and old guides still tell the old story.
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Written and checked by Auke on , against the sources at the bottom. Is something no longer right? Report it below and I'll fix it.
Yes, in Denmark you pay more tax than in the Netherlands, but the system is clear. On your salary you pay:
- first 8 per cent labour market contribution;
- then state tax in brackets, from 12.01 per cent;
- and municipal tax.
Most people do not have to file a return. Employers, banks and other bodies report the data themselves.
The finding is in the treaty with the Netherlands. It was amended by a protocol, and since that protocol of 2018 the Netherlands may tax your AOW (the Dutch state pension) and your Dutch pension. The trap is an old guide that still tells the old story.
How is Danish tax built up?
Every krone of salary starts with the labour market contribution. Your employer withholds it after your ATP contribution (for the Danish supplementary pension) and your pension contribution, but before the other taxes. On the rest you pay:
| Component (2026) | Rate | On what |
|---|---|---|
| AM-bidrag | 8 per cent | all salary, from the year you turn 18 |
| Bundskat | 12.01 per cent | personal income above your personal allowance |
| Mellemskat | 7.5 per cent | personal income above 641,200 kroner |
| Topskat | 7.5 per cent | personal income above 777,900 kroner |
| Toptopskat | 5 per cent | personal income above 2,592,700 kroner |
| Municipal tax | municipal rate | on top of the state tax |
| Church tax | church rate | only for members of the Danish national church |
The middle, top and additional top brackets were introduced in 2026; what was called topskat up to and including 2025 is now called mellemskat. If you come as a researcher or highly paid employee, also look at the researcher tax scheme with a flat 32.84 per cent.
What is the forskudsopgørelse, and why set it correctly?
The forskudsopgørelse is your preliminary assessment: your tax budget for the current year. It determines your withholding rate and goes automatically to your employer as a digital tax card. Every year in November it is ready for the following year. You adjust it in E-tax (TastSelv), the online portal of Skat, the Danish tax authority. You can do that as often as you like. If it is right, the annual settlement, the årsopgørelse, is mostly a check. If it is not, you pay too much or too little all year.
Without a tax card your employer withholds the emergency rate: 8 plus 55 per cent. What was paid in excess comes back via the annual settlement into your NemKonto: the account into which the Danish government makes its payments to you.
Report your Dutch income and your pension schemes yourself. Skat writes that with full tax liability you must report, among other things, non-Danish pension schemes. Foreign income and deductions not already in your årsopgørelse you report every year from mid-March, at the latest by 1 July of the year after the income year. Whoever lets that slide, pays on an assessment that is not right.
Where is my Dutch pension taxed?
The 1996 tax treaty was amended by a protocol. It was signed in Copenhagen on 9 May 2018 and has been in force since 31 December 2018.
Since then pensions, annuities and social security benefits from the Netherlands may be taxed in the Netherlands. Think of the AOW and an occupational pension whose contributions received tax relief, so were paid with a tax advantage. Denmark taxes your worldwide income and avoids double taxation through the treaty.
There is one transitional rule. The old article 18 still applies to a Dutch pension or annuity if you meet all three of these conditions:
- you were already resident in Denmark before the protocol was signed;
- you were already receiving that pension or annuity at the time;
- you continue to receive it and you remain resident.
For whoever moves now, the new one applies.
What happens to assets in the Netherlands?
| Income | What the treaty says |
|---|---|
| Rent from a home in the Netherlands | the Netherlands may tax (article 6) |
| Dividend from a Dutch company | the Netherlands may withhold up to 15 per cent (article 10) |
| Interest, for example on Dutch savings | only your state of residence, Denmark, may tax (article 11) |
| AOW and pension from the Netherlands | the Netherlands may tax (article 18) |
How the two systems interlock for your income is tailor-made. Whoever leaves with a large pension or assets has it calculated once before the move by someone who knows the treaty.
What do I actually do?
- Apply for your tax card as soon as your contract is signed. That is possible up to a month before your first working day.
- Check the forskudsopgørelse as soon as you have MitID, and after that every year in November.
- Report your Dutch pension schemes.
- Keep your Dutch annual statements. The M return for your emigration year needs them, and that only comes the year after.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.6: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Denmark or go straight to step 5.6 in the open plan.
What this means for your numbers →
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- Skat — AM-bidrag, 8 per cent on all salary — skat.dk
- Skat — the tax brackets of 2026 — skat.dk
- Skat — the forskudsopgørelse — skat.dk
- Skat — moving to Denmark, what you report and when — skat.dk
- Tax treaty NL–Denmark, articles 6, 10, 11 and 18 — wetten.overheid.nl
- Amending protocol 2018 (Trb. 2018, 161) — the transitional rule for those already receiving a pension — zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl
- Life in Denmark — introduction to the Danish tax system, advance and annual settlement — lifeindenmark.borger.dk
- Skat — your guide to working in Denmark, the tax card a month ahead — skat.dk
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