Companies distributing dividends must report information about recipients of dividends in E-tax for business (TastSelv Erhverv). If ‘Udbytteskat og modtagere’ (Dividend tax and recipients) does not appear in the menu, it could be that the company is not registered for this reporting option.

The information about the dividend tax withheld for each recipient forms the basis of the statement of the total dividend tax payable by the company. Please find the total declared dividend and dividend tax appear in ‘Oversigt Udbytteskat’ (Overview Dividend tax).

For shares admitted for trading on a regulated market or shares registered with a central securities depository, the information about the recipients of dividends will be reported via one of the online solutions in eKapital. In this case, the company should calculate the total dividend and dividend tax and submit a dividend declaration in E-tax for businesses (TastSelv Erhverv). 

Please note the following when you report dividends and dividend tax in E-tax for businesses:

• Unlisted companies should only report Danish and non-Danish recipients of dividends. E-tax for businesses totals dividends and dividend tax, and from ‘Oversigt Udbytteskat’ (Overview dividend tax) you are able to check whether the entries correspond with the dividends distributed.
• Companies registered with VP should only report a statement of dividend.
• Gross dividend reported (dividend before tax) in E-tax for businesses should also be entered in field 37 on the company tax return in E-tax for companies for the relevant income year.
• The distributing company may make changes to its reporting until 4 p.m. on the day of reporting. Please make changes under ‘Indberet – Rettelse af udbytteangivelse’ (Reporting – Change of statement of dividend) in E-tax for businesses. If you find errors in your reporting subsequently, please contact us at www-skat.dk/contact and select ‘Erhverv → Selskaber, fonde og foreninger → Log på og send besked → Aktier, anparter, udbytte m.v. → Udbytteskat → Rettelser til udbytteskat’ (Businesses → Companies, funds and associations → Log on to contact us → Shares, dividends, etc. → Dividend tax → Changes to dividend tax.
• You can only report dividends and dividend tax which have been approved for year 1 in E-tax until 1 November of year 2. If you are unable to complete your reporting by 1 November, please contact us at www.skat.dk/contact and select ‘Erhverv → Selskaber, fonde og foreninger → Log på og send besked → Aktier, anparter, udbytte m.v (Businesses → Companies, funds and associations → Log on to contact us → Shares, dividends, etc.). Please state the accounting period, date of approval, CPR nos. (civil registration nos.)/CVR nos. (business registration nos.) of the recipients of dividends, the dividends distributed and the dividend tax withheld. If dividend tax has not been withheld, please state the reason.

Remember to report dividend information even if the dividend is not subject to dividend tax.

If, exceptionally, the date of approval is more than six months after the end of the accounting period relevant to the dividend, you should submit the information to us. You have to do so in order for us to register the dividend and the dividend tax with the individual recipients. Please submit the information to us via www.skat.dk/contact.

Rates applicable to individuals

Rates applicable to companies

Recipient of dividend resides outside Denmark

Search dividend tax rate

Enter the CVR/SE number (business reg. no./VAT no.) of the recipient of the dividend to find companies, foundations and associations entitled to receive dividends from which 15% or 22% dividend tax has been withheld. If the recipient of a dividend has a dividend-tax exemption card issued by the Danish Tax Agency (Skattestyrelsen), this will appear in the search for the recipient of the dividend.

Search dividend tax rate (Please note that the link in Danish).

Companies and associations etc. distributing dividends should not withhold dividend tax if the shareholder has a dividend-tax exemption card. If the shares are registered with VP Securities (Værdipapircentralen) via a custody account in a Danish bank, the dividend-tax exemption card should be presented to the custodian bank. In other cases, the dividend-tax exemption card should be presented to the company or association distributing the dividend.

Who may apply?

The following shareholders may apply for a dividend-tax exemption card:

• Danish taxable investment companies subject to minimum taxation according to section 1(1), para (5)(c) of the Danish Corporation Tax Act (Selskabsskatteloven).

• Danish associations, cooperatives, foundations, charitable trusts and self-governing institutions subject to tax according to section 1(1), para (6) of the Corporation Tax Act. 

• Danish tax-exempt institutions etc. according to section 3(1) of the Corporation Tax Act (however, this does not apply to investment companies according to section 3(1), para 19 of the Corporation Tax Act).

• Non-Danish states and international organisations entitled to tax immunity that are exempt from Danish income tax (however, this does not apply to non-Danish pension funds and similar).

• Non-Danish members of the Royal Family in Denmark who are exempt from Danish income tax.

The application process

Shareholders may apply to the Danish Tax Agency (Skattestyrelsen) for a dividend-tax exemption card. The dividend-tax exemption card is valid for maximum 10 years. If the situation of the shareholder changes, the card should be returned to SKAT.

The application should contain the following information:

• Name, address, country, CVR no./SE no. (civil reg. no./VAT no.) TIN or CPR no. (civil reg. no.) of the shareholder.

• Articles of association and financial statements of the shareholder.

• The place of residence statement of the shareholder if the shareholder is resident for tax purposes outside Denmark. Please complete form 02.050 and form 02.051, for example.

• Name and address of the custodian bank(s) and custody numbers of custody accounts free of charge for which the dividend-tax exemption card is intended.

• Other relevant documentation.

Please submit the application to the Danish Tax Agency (Skattestyrelsen):

Either online via www.skat.dk/english → Log on → E-tax for businesses → ’Selskaber, fonde og foreninger’ (Companies, foundations and associations) → Log on and submit message.

Or by letter to: 
Skattestyrelsen
Nykøbingvej 76 D
4990 Sakskøbing
Denmark

Check dividend tax rate

Companies, associations etc., distributing dividends and custodian banks can check the validity of dividend-tax exemption cards if they were issued on 1 January 2014 or later.

Search dividend tax rate (Please note that the link in Danish).

According to section 210 of the Danish Companies Act (Selskabsloven), a company may provide loans to shareholders. This applies to loans to shareholders and members of management established on 1 January 2017 or later.

When a company provides a loan to a shareholder (natural person with a controlling interest in the company) the loan is subject to section 16E of the Danish Tax Assessment Act (Ligningsloven), see section C.B.3.5.3.3. Aktionærlån in Danish in our legal guide at www.skat.dk. This means that the shareholder is taxed on the loan as if it was salary or dividend. Taxation of the loan applies irrespective of whether the loan is legal or illegal according to company law and whether the shareholder repays the loan to the company.

If the loan is taxed as salary (A-income):

• When the loan is established, the company should report the amount of the loan in E-tax for business →e-Income in field 13 ‘AM-bidragspligtig A-indkomst’ (A-income subject to Labour market contribution).

• The loan amount may be reported in E-tax for business even if the reporting deadline has expired.

If the loan is taxed as dividend:

• When the loan is established, the company should withhold dividend tax at a rate of 27%.

• The company should declare dividends and dividend tax in E-tax for businesses. When the company reports information about the recipient of dividends and declares dividend tax withheld, it should state the date when the shareholder became entitled to take out the loan as the date of approval.

• See the deadline for declaring and paying dividend tax in connection with loans to shareholders under ‘Payment and deadlines’. The loan amount can be reported in E-tax for business even if the reporting deadline has expired.

• In E-tax for companies, the company should also report the amount of the loan in field 37 in the tax return along with other possible dividend distributions.  

You can pay dividend tax using online banking. If you choose to do so, you should use the payment ID stated at ‘Oversigt udbytteskat’ (Overview Dividend tax). You can also find the payment ID in your tax account in E-tax for businesses.

Paying from a non-Danish bank account

If you pay from a non-Danish bank account, you should use the following IBAN no., BIC/SWIFT code and account number:

Please remember to enter your SE no. (VAT no.) in the comment field.

This applies, for example, if your company does not have an address in Denmark or a representative living in Denmark.

Payment deadlines

The deadline for dividend tax payments is the 10^th of the month after the month when the distribution was approved.

However, in January the deadline is the 17^th.

If the final due date is a Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday, the deadline is the following working day.

If the company’s deadline for payment of A-tax (tax withheld at source) is the last business day of the month, the deadline for declaring and paying dividend tax is the last business day of the month after the month when the distribution was approved.

Shareholders can claim refund of dividend tax if the dividend tax withheld exceeds the final dividend tax according to a double taxation agreement or current Danish tax law.

You can make the claim online. In order to make such a claim, the shareholder must be liable to pay tax abroad or be exempt from tax in Denmark. Shareholders or agents (on behalf of shareholders) can make claims.

Click here for further information and to make a claim for refund of dividend tax

Status on your claim

When you claim refund of Danish dividend tax, you get a receipt to document that you have submitted your claim. This has been the case since 1 January 2016.

We have now sent a letter to everybody who submitted a claim before 1 May 2018 and who has not yet had their claim processed. In the letter, we state the expected processing time.

Please call us on (+45) 72 38 00 81 if you have not received such a letter. It could be that we do not have all the required information about you to complete the processing of your claim. In order to speed up the processing, please state when you submitted your claim and anything else that may help us identify your application.

Refund of dividend tax from 2015

Since August 2015, all claims for refunds of dividend tax have been put on hold because of the alleged criminal offences against SKAT. Read more about the background to this decision (only available in Danish). 

On 17 March 2016, we resumed payment of refunds of dividend tax, provided supporting documentation is submitted.

Please note that increased case processing time should still be expected. 
 
We regret any inconvenience this may have caused and we apologise for continued delays in the period ahead. According to section 69B of the Danish Withholding Tax Act (Kildeskatteloven), the Danish Tax Agency (Skattestyrelsen) has to pay interest on overdue refunds if case-processing time exceeds six months and the delay is due to circumstances which are not the fault of the recipient of the refund. Th Danish Tax Agency will pay any interest on overdue refunds if the conditions for this are met. You do not have to submit a claim for this interest.