Before you start

CPR number and a tax card (skattekort)
MitID for TastSelv, the self-service tax portal
A NemKonto for refunds
For the researcher scheme, an application made by your employer before or at the start of employment

Step-by-step

1
Get a tax card immediately, because the alternative is punitive
Register with Skattestyrelsen for a skattekort and a preliminary income assessment. Without a tax card your employer must withhold at a substantially higher default rate, and getting the difference back means waiting for the annual assessment.
OnlineWho: YouWeek 1
2
Answer the church membership question deliberately
Church tax of roughly 0.8% in Copenhagen is levied only on members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark. The CPR form asks. Being baptised Lutheran elsewhere does not make you a member here, and ticking yes by reflex costs you every month until you resign.
In personWho: You
3
Establish whether the researcher scheme applies before signing
The scheme taxes gross salary at 27% plus the 8% labour market contribution — 32.84% in total — for up to 84 months. For key employees the 2026 minimum salary is DKK 65,400 a month after ATP, down from DKK 78,000. You must not have been liable to Danish tax in the previous ten years. The employer applies.
Via employerWho: Your employerAt the start of employment
4
Keep the preliminary assessment accurate through the year
The forskudsopgørelse is your forecast, and it drives what is withheld. Update it when your salary, deductions, commute or mortgage change. An accurate forecast means no surprise bill at assessment.
OnlineWho: You
5
Check the annual assessment in March
The årsopgørelse arrives in March for the previous calendar year, pre-filled from employer and bank reporting. Corrections are made in TastSelv. Refunds are paid to your NemKonto — another reason to have designated one.
OnlineWho: YouMarch–May
6
If you cross the Øresund, get advice designed for that
Where your salary is taxed depends on where you physically work, and remote days at home in the other country can change the outcome. Social security follows separate EU rules that can put you in a different country's system from your tax. Øresunddirekt, run jointly by Danish and Swedish authorities, is the correct first stop; a Danish accountant alone is not.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

CPR number and tax card
MitID for TastSelv
Employment contract, for the researcher scheme application
Records of foreign income, property and accounts
Documentation of commuting distance, which is deductible above a threshold

Things most newcomers don’t know

The researcher scheme's salary floor fell to DKK 65,400 a month for 2026, and most published guides still say DKK 78,000.

Forskerskatteordningen taxes gross salary at a flat 27% plus the 8% labour market contribution — 32.84% combined — for up to 84 months, and the key-employee route qualifies on salary alone with no education requirement. The 2026 reduction from DKK 78,000 brought a substantially wider group of senior professionals into scope, and because the change is recent a great many people are being told they do not qualify when they now do. Ask about it explicitly before signing a contract.

Source: Skattestyrelsen

AM-bidrag comes off before everything, which is why the headline rate always looks wrong.

The 8% labour market contribution is deducted from gross salary before income tax and before the personal allowance is applied. Everything you read about Danish tax rates describes what happens to the remaining 92%. It is the main reason people arriving with a spreadsheet built on the marginal rate find their first payslip lower than expected, and it applies to essentially all earned income.

Source: Skattestyrelsen

Church tax is opt-in, and foreigners opt in by accident.

Kirkeskat is levied only on members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark, at roughly 0.8% of taxable income in Copenhagen. Membership is a specific legal status, not a description of your upbringing — a Lutheran baptism in Germany, Sweden or Finland does not create it. The CPR registration form asks the question plainly and people tick yes as though it were a census item. Resigning is possible but the tax already paid is not refunded.

Source: Skattestyrelsen / borger.dk

Cross-border Øresund work is governed by a specific framework, and where you sit while working matters.

Denmark and Sweden have a dedicated agreement for the Øresund region because the ordinary tax treaty produced perverse results for daily commuters. Broadly, work physically performed in the employer's country is taxed there, and days worked from home on the other side can shift the treatment once they pass a proportion of your working time. Social security is decided under separate EU coordination rules and can land in a different country from your income tax. Öresunddirekt exists specifically to answer this, and it is the first call before accepting a job across the bridge.

Source: Øresunddirekt

Common mistakes to avoid

Starting work without a tax card and being withheld at the punitive default rate.
Ticking the church membership box on the CPR form without reading it.
Not asking about the researcher scheme, or being told the 2025 salary floor as though it were current.
Leaving the preliminary assessment unchanged after a salary or mortgage change.
Treating a Copenhagen–Malmö commute as an ordinary domestic arrangement.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.