Denmark
Denmark: 5 company types, its taxes, banking and business environment, and what it is known for.
Forming a company
Company types in Denmark
The 5 forms a founder can choose here, each with its own figures. Open one for its sources.
What it is known for
Where Denmark is in the world’s top 10 on a measure anyone can check, the best rank first. Only the top is shown; a low rank is never stated.
- World’s1stWorld-leading exports EnzymesEnzymes; prepared enzymes not elsewhere specified or includedUS$1.8 bn · 23.5% of world exports of 130 exporters · 2024 CEPII BACI, January 2026 release See the top 10
- World’s1stWorld-leading exports Live swineUS$1.7 bn · 34.0% of world exports of 55 exporters · 2024 CEPII BACI, January 2026 release See the top 10
- World’s joint3rdLogistics and freight Logistics Performance Index4.1 of 5 of 138 economies · 2022 World Bank, World Development Indicators See the top 12
- World’s3rdWorld-leading exports Hormones and their derivativesHormones, prostaglandins, thromboxanes and leukotrienes, natural or reproduced by synthesis; derivatives and structural analogues thereof, including chain modified polypeptides, used primarily as hormonesUS$2.3 bn · 5.9% of world exports of 101 exporters · 2024 CEPII BACI, January 2026 release See the top 10
A rank is among everything the source reports for that year, so it moves when the source adds or drops economies. Exports include goods passing through for re-export. Nothing here is a recommendation.
Doing business here
Business accounts
Providers whose own published list of countries names Denmark. A listing means a company formed here may apply, not that it will be accepted.
Not in our records No provider's country list has been read for Denmark.
EU listings
Two lists a bank checks when it opens an account for a company or its owner.
- EU high-risk third countries (AML)
- Not listed
- EU non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes
- Not listedOfficial EUR-Lex, 52026XG01465, Annex I as of 2026-02-17
Official sites
The authorities’ own sites for Denmark: where to register, file and check.
Blocs and agreements
The trade arrangements Denmark belongs to, as each arrangement’s own texts state them: since when, and what each covers. What a membership means for a business is for you to judge.
- European Union: internal market and customs union
- Single market · since 1973
Covers goods, services, establishment, capital, movement of people, a common external tariff.
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EU Member State since 1973, Schengen area member since 2001 and more about Denmark’s participation in the EU.
- European Union: VAT territory
- Inside it
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‘Community’ and ‘territory of the Community’ mean the territories of the Member States as defined in point (2);
- Schengen area
- Free movement area · since 25 March 2001
Covers movement of people.
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As from 25 March 2001, and subject to Article 3(2):
- European Economic Area
- Single market · since 1 January 1994
Covers goods, movement of people, services, establishment, capital.
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which now covers the EU and its 27 Member States, and three of the four EFTA members: Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
Regional and customs arrangements only, 36 of them; bilateral trade agreements are not yet in our records.
Tax
Company tax
Tax, and what the company owes the registry each year.
- Corporate income tax
- 22%
- Distributions
- Not in our records
- Audit
- Exempt if the company does not exceed two of: balance sheet DKK 4m, net turnover DKK 8m, 12 full-time employees, in two consecutive years (guide ch. 11).Official The registry or ministry page
- Small-company relief
- Not in our records
- Annual obligations
- Not in our records
- Annual registry fee
- Not in our records
VAT
The tax on what the company sells in Denmark, and when it must register, as the tax authority states it.
- Standard rate
- 25%Official European Commission, Taxes in Europe Database situation on 2026/07/01
Tax calendar
When the main returns and payments fall due in Denmark, tax year 2026, as the tax authority states it.
- Corporate tax return
- 6 months after the end of the accounting period · each year
Six months after the end of the financial period; for a calendar-year company that is 30 June of the following year. A late-filing penalty of up to DKK 400 per day applies, to a maximum of DKK 10,000 per company.
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The reporting deadline of the tax return is usually 6 months after the end of the financial period.
- Corporate tax, final payment
- 20 November · each year
Outstanding corporation tax is due on 20 November, which for a calendar-year company falls in the year after the income year; overpaid tax is also settled on 20 November.
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The deadline of paying possible outstanding tax is 20 November. If the deadline is a weekend or a holiday, the deadline will be the coming weekday.
- Corporate tax, instalments
- Set each year by decree · twice a year
Two equal ordinary instalments of 20 March and 20 November, assessed as 50% of the average corporation tax of the past three years; a voluntary third instalment may be reported and paid by 1 February of the year following the income year.
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Instalment 1: Ordinary tax on account and any voluntary payment of tax on account: 20 March Instalment 2: Ordinary tax on account and any voluntary payment of tax on account: 20 November
- Personal income-tax return
- Set each year by decree · each year
The tax assessment notice (årsopgørelse) is pre-completed: 20 May 2026 is the deadline to make changes to it (the deadline is usually 1 May; it was extended for the 2025 notice), and 1 July 2026 is the deadline for the extended tax return required of those with foreign income or a sole proprietorship.
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20 May 2026 Deadline for making changes to your tax assessment notice. The deadline is usually 1 May, but we have extended it to give you more time to update your information.
- Personal income tax, final payment
- 1 July · each year
Outstanding tax must be paid by 1 July to avoid the higher interest surcharge; where it exceeds DKK 25,368, the amount above that limit is collected in three instalments in August, September and October of the same year.
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1 July 2026 Deadline for paying outstanding tax if you want to avoid an interest surcharge.
- Personal income tax, instalments
- Day 20 of the following month · each month
Quoted in Danish; the English gloss is: 'You must pay B-tax no later than the 20th of every month with instalments. If the 20th falls on a weekend or public holiday, you must pay no later than the first working day after.' The tax is paid in 10 instalments, one each month except June and December (months_after 0 means the 20th of the instalment month).
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Du skal betale B-skat senest den 20. i alle måneder med rater. Hvis den 20. falder på en weekend- eller helligdag, skal du betale senest første hverdag herefter.
- VAT return
- 2 months and 1 day after the end of the quarter · each quarter
The standard quarterly deadline is the 1st of the third month after the quarter ends (quarter end + 2 months + 1 day): Q1 2026 is due 1 June 2026, Q2 2026 on 1 September 2026, Q3 2026 on 1 December 2026, Q4 2026 on 1 March 2027. Monthly settlement applies above DKK 50 million and half-yearly settlement below DKK 5 million.
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Settlement period Reporting and payment deadline 2 nd quarter 2025 1 September 2025 3 rd quarter 2025 1 December 2025 4 th quarter 2025 2 March 2026 1 st quarter 2026 1 June 2026
- Payroll withholding
- Day 10 of the following month · each month
The authority states the final due date for small and medium-sized businesses is the 10th day of every month, i.e. the 10th of the month following the payday month. Large businesses (annual labour market contribution of DKK 250,000 or more, or A-tax of DKK 1 million or more) follow a separate, earlier schedule, and public-sector employers have their own deadlines.
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The final due date for small and medium-sized businesses is on the 10th day of every month.
Running the company
Running a company here
Not in our records The authorities’ pages on running a company have not been read for Denmark yet.
Economy and trade
What it exports
Goods Denmark exported, by product, as a share of its goods exports each year. Exports include goods passing through for re-export. A share describes Denmark’s own trade; it does not compare places.
| Product (HS heading) | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Value, 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medicaments (excluding goods of heading 3002, 3005 or 3006) consisting of mixed or unmixed products for therapeutic or prophylactic uses, put up in measured doses (including those in the form of transdermal administration systems) or in forms or packings for retail sale HS 3004 | 14.0% | 13.1% | 12.1% | US$14.5 bn |
| Human blood; animal blood prepared for therapeutic, prophylactic or diagnostic uses; antisera, other blood fractions and immunological products, whether or not modified or obtained by means of biotechnological processes; vaccines, toxins, cultures of micro-organisms (excluding yeasts) and similar products; cell cultures, whether or not modified HS 3002 | 1.9% | 3.2% | 2.9% | US$3.5 bn |
| Meat of swine, fresh, chilled or frozen HS 0203 | 2.4% | 2.4% | 2.4% | US$2.9 bn |
| Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, other than crude; preparations not elsewhere specified or included, containing by weight 70 % or more of petroleum oils or of oils obtained from bituminous minerals, these oils being the basic constituents of the preparations; waste oils HS 2710 | 3.0% | 2.4% | 2.3% | US$2.8 bn |
| Cheese and curd HS 0406 | 1.8% | 1.9% | 2.0% | US$2.4 bn |
| Hormones, prostaglandins, thromboxanes and leukotrienes, natural or reproduced by synthesis; derivatives and structural analogues thereof, including chain modified polypeptides, used primarily as hormones HS 2937 | 1.5% | 1.5% | 1.9% | US$2.3 bn |
| Motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of persons (other than those of heading 8702), including station wagons and racing cars HS 8703 | 1.3% | 1.5% | 1.9% | US$2.3 bn |
| Enzymes; prepared enzymes not elsewhere specified or included HS 3507 | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.5% | US$1.8 bn |
| Electrical energy HS 2716 | 3.0% | 1.2% | 1.5% | US$1.8 bn |
| Live swine HS 0103 | 0.76% | 1.4% | 1.4% | US$1.7 bn |
Total goods exports, 2024: US$119.6 bn. The ten largest headings are shown.