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Denmark Investment Tax Guide 2026
Share income, the ABIS fund list, mark-to-market & crypto
27/42% on share income, capital income capped at 42%, why an ETF that is not on SKAT's list is taxed as capital income, the statutory average cost pooled across every custody account, crypto reported gross in rubrik 20 and 58 - and the 1 July deadline that can cost you the whole loss deduction
Last updated: · Covers income years 2025 and 2026. Informational only - not tax advice.
WHAT MATTERS MOST IF YOU INVEST THROUGH A FOREIGN BROKER
YOUR LOSS CAN EXPIRE ON 1 JULY - EVEN WITH PERFECT RECORDS
A loss on listed shares or on investment-company units is deductible only if Skattestyrelsen was told about the purchase by 1 July of the year after you bought (ABL § 19 D, jf. § 14). With a Danish custody account the bank reports it for you. With a foreign one SKAT receives nothing - so it is on you. It is a separate filing action that has nothing to do with the return itself.
AN ETF THAT IS NOT ON THE ABIS LIST IS CAPITAL INCOME - EVEN AT 100% EQUITIES
An investment company is bond-based unless it notified Skatteforvaltningen that it is share-based (ABL § 19 C, stk. 2). If your ETF is not on SKAT's list, its result is capital income at up to 42% instead of share income at 27/42% - and that holds for a pure equity ETF too. Registration is per calendar year and can lapse and resume.
CRYPTO IS REPORTED GROSS - BREAKING EVEN CAN STILL COST YOU TAX
Crypto gains and losses are not netted: total gains in rubrik 20, total losses in rubrik 58. A gain is personal income taxed at up to about 53%, while a loss only relieves at about 26%. Trade actively and finish the year flat, and you can still owe a real amount of tax.
Why declaring foreign investments in Denmark is hard
- -No reporting from foreign brokers: nothing is pre-filled - every trade, dividend, interest payment and year-end value is yours to compute and declare
- -Three income buckets, three rates: one portfolio can hit share income (27/42%), capital income (capped at 42%) and personal income (up to ~53%) at the same time
- -Fund classification lives in a register: whether an ETF is share- or bond-based depends on the ABIS list for that specific year - not on what it holds
- -Average cost pools across brokers: buy the same share at two brokers and one combined average applies - your broker's own figure is no longer correct
- -Mark-to-market taxes unrealised value: investment companies and financial contracts need a value at both year boundaries, even in years you did not trade
- -Deadlines that cost money: purchases must be reported by 1 July or the loss deduction is gone - and from 2015 a contract loss must be reported in the loss year itself to stay carryable
What Tax-Wizard does for you
✅ Automatic calculations
- The average-cost method under ABL § 26, stk. 2 - one acquisition sum per company, pooled across all your custody accounts
- Every fund looked up in SKAT's ABIS list for the income year you are filing, so the result lands in rubrik 375 or 422 - and anything unresolved is flagged for review
- Mark-to-market with opening and closing values, substituting purchase cost and sale proceeds for the missing boundary
- Conversion to DKK at Nationalbanken's rate for each leg's own date, so the currency movement is part of the gain
- Loss ordering under ABL § 13 A and KGL § 32, including the rubrik 85/86 balances and the rubrik 87 election
📄 One workbook, ready to type from
- An Oplysningsskema sheet: every rubrik with the exact amount to enter in TastSelv
- A 04.012 per country sheet, because SKAT requires one form for each source country
- A purchase-notification sheet with exactly the five fields SKAT asks for before 1 July
- Crypto with gains and losses in separate columns, so the gross principle stays visible
- A Review sheet listing everything that rests on a judgement rather than the register
The three income buckets - and why they decide everything
Denmark does not have one rate for investment returns. It has three separate income types, each with its own rate, its own loss rules and its own boxes. A single portfolio can hit all three at once, which is why classifying each holding matters more than the arithmetic.
Rates for income years 2025 and 2026
| Income type | Rate | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Share income, lower rate | 27% | up to DKK 67,500 | up to DKK 79,400 |
| Share income, upper rate | 42% | above DKK 67,500 | above DKK 79,400 |
| Progression threshold, married | - | DKK 135,000 | DKK 158,800 |
| Capital income ceiling | 42.0% | PSL § 19, stk. 2 | unchanged |
| Allowance, positive net capital income | - | DKK 52,400 / 104,800 | DKK 55,000 / 110,000 |
| Personal income (crypto) | up to ~53% | no AM-bidrag | mellemskat 7.5% / topskat 7.5% / toptopskat 5% |
| Relief value of a crypto loss | ~26% | ligningsmæssigt fradrag | ligningsmæssigt fradrag |
⚠️ The progression threshold is a real cliff
The part of your share income above the threshold is taxed at 42% instead of 27%. Married and living together at year end doubles the threshold - but only if both of you are correctly registered. The figure is indexed annually under PSL § 20, so the numbers above cannot be projected forward to 2027.
Negative share income is not a deduction
If your share income ends up negative you do not get a deduction against other income. Instead a tax value of the negative amount is computed on the same 27/42 scale and offset against your other taxes, then your spouse's, then carried forward (PSL § 8 a, stk. 5).
ETFs and funds - the ABIS list decides everything
This is where most people go wrong. Whether your ETF is taxed as share income or capital income does not depend on what the fund holds. It depends on whether the fund told Skatteforvaltningen that it is share-based.
🔴 ABL § 19 C, stk. 2 - the whole rule in one sentence
"An investment company is bond-based, unless the investment company meets the conditions in § 19 B, stk. 2." And the first condition in § 19 B, stk. 2 is that the company "has notified the tax administration that the investment company is share-based", with the notice due by 1 November of the preceding year. An Irish UCITS ETF holding 100% equities that never filed that notice is bond-based as a matter of law - and taxed as capital income at up to 42%.
The four regimes
| Type | Basis | Income type | Box (DK / foreign) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Share-based investment company ABL § 19 B - on the ABIS list | Mark-to-market | Share income 27/42% | 345 / 375 |
| Bond-based investment company ABL § 19 C - the default | Mark-to-market | Capital income ≤ 42% | 38 / 422 |
| Share-based minimum-taxed institute ABL § 21 (IMB) | Realisation | Share income 27/42% | 66 / 454 |
| Bond-based minimum-taxed institute ABL § 22 (IMB) | Realisation, DKK 2,000 de-minimis | Capital income ≤ 42% | 30 / 434 |
Mark-to-market: taxed even when you did not sell
For an investment company the year's result is the difference between the value at the start and the end of the income year. Bought during the year, you use the purchase cost instead of the opening value; sold during the year, you use the sale proceeds instead of the closing value. So you can be taxed on a gain in a year you never touched the holding - and equally you get relief for an unrealised loss.
Registration is per calendar year
The ABIS list carries a "registered years" column, and a fund can be on the list one year and not the next. A concrete example from the June 2026 list: SPDR MSCI World UCITS ETF (IE00BFY0GT14) is registered for 2026 but not for 2025. The same fund is capital income in 2025 and share income in 2026. That is why Tax-Wizard resolves per income year rather than as a yes/no.
⚠️ No Vanguard ETF is on the list
We went through the whole June 2026 ABIS list: no Vanguard UCITS ETF is registered for any year from 2021 to 2026 - including the widely held Vanguard FTSE All-World (IE00BK5BQT80). Under ABL § 19 C, stk. 2 they are therefore bond-based, and the return is capital income at up to 42% in rubrik 422 rather than share income in rubrik 375. The list can change, so always check for your own income year.
What Tax-Wizard does
We pull SKAT's ABIS list straight from the IFPA page and look up every ISIN for the income year you are filing. Funds we cannot find in the register fall to the statutory default as bond-based - and are simultaneously flagged on the Review sheet so you can check them. We never present a judgement as a fact.
Losses - and the deadline that can wipe them out
🔴 Report your PURCHASES by 1 July or lose the deduction
ABL § 19 D, stk. 1 makes the deduction "conditional on the tax administration having received, before the expiry of the reporting deadline ... for the income year in which the acquisition took place, information about the acquisition ... stating their identity, number, price, acquisition date and acquisition sum." The same condition applies to listed shares under § 14.
With a Danish depot the bank reports it automatically by 20 January. With a foreign depot SKAT receives nothing - so you must send these five items yourself:
- Identity (name, fund code, ISIN etc.)
- Number of units
- Purchase date
- Purchase sum including trading costs
- Price
The path is: TastSelv → Kontakt → Skriv til os → Indkomst og fradrag → Årsopgørelse → Spørgsmål og ændringer til årsopgørelse → Aktier og værdipapirer. Tax-Wizard produces a "Køb til indberetning" sheet with exactly those five columns.
Losses on listed shares - ABL § 13 A
A loss may only be set against the year's dividends and gains, and only those relating to shares admitted to trading (including gains on share-based investment companies under § 19 B) that are share income. The order is:
- Your own dividends and gains on listed shares in the same year
- Your spouse's equivalent net amount, if you are living together at year end
- Carried forward indefinitely - repeating steps 1-2 in later years
There is no carry-back and no cap. Use is mandatory: a loss can only move to a later year if it could not be absorbed in an earlier one.
Two things sit outside the ring-fence
Losses on shares not admitted to trading are not ring-fenced - they reduce share income generally. And a mark-to-market loss on a share-based investment company is "deducted in computing share income without limitation" (Den juridiske vejledning C.B.4.3.2), because §§ 12-14 do not apply to § 19 B.
Financial contracts - mark-to-market and one net figure
Options, forwards, futures, CFDs, warrants and swaps are financial contracts under kursgevinstloven §§ 29-33. So are structured claims and certificates - turbos and ETNs - which KGL § 29, stk. 3 pulls into the same regime.
Three principles
| Principle | What it means |
|---|---|
| Separation | The contract is taxed on its own terms, whatever rules apply to the underlying |
| Mark-to-market (KGL § 33) | The year's change in value is taxed whether or not the contract was closed. Purchase cost replaces the opening value, sale proceeds replace the closing value |
| Netting | All contracts are aggregated into one figure for the year, reported in rubrik 346 |
Mark-to-market worked example (skat.dk)
Year 1: cost DKK 40,000, value at 31 Dec DKK 44,000 → gain DKK 4,000
Year 2: value at 1 Jan DKK 44,000, value at 31 Dec DKK 51,000 → gain DKK 7,000
Year 3: value at 1 Jan DKK 51,000, proceeds DKK 59,000 → gain DKK 8,000
Opened and closed in the same year, the result is simply proceeds minus cost. Purchase costs are added to the acquisition sum; sale costs are deducted from the proceeds.
Losses are source-restricted - KGL § 32
- Your own gains on financial contracts in the same year
- Net gains on contracts you already reported for income year 2002 or later - an effective carry-back, but without reopening any old assessment: the deduction is taken in the loss year
- Your spouse's contract gains in the same year
- Share-based contracts only: your own net gains on listed shares - for losses from income year 2010 onwards
- Your spouse's share gains
- Carried forward indefinitely, oldest loss first
The boxes that interact
| Box | Contents |
|---|---|
| 346 | The year's net gain - or the deductible part of the net loss, entered with a minus |
| 85 | Unused loss carried forward, other contracts |
| 86 | Unused loss carried forward, share-based contracts |
| 87 | 1 = offset your own share gains (which must then appear in rubrik 66) · 2 = transfer to your spouse · blank = neither |
| 88 | On form 04.055: the amount you want offset when offsetting only part |
Remember to reduce the rubrik 85 balance by whatever you move into rubrik 86.
⚠️ From 2015 the loss must be reported in the loss year
Fail to report a loss in the year it arose and you lose the right to carry it forward. So fill in rubrik 85 and 86 even in years with no contract gains at all. And losses must always be split between share-based and other contracts.
Bonds, interest and P2P - and the DKK 2,000 de-minimis
Interest - including on foreign bonds and on P2P lending - is capital income and goes in rubrik 431. Gains and losses on the claim itself follow kursgevinstloven § 14 and a threshold of its own.
🔴 One aggregate, per spouse, all-or-nothing
skat.dk: "There is a combined de-minimis threshold of DKK 2,000 for gains and losses on units in bond-based minimum-taxed investment institutes, gains and losses on claims (including bonds), and gains and losses on debt in foreign currency. If your gain or loss exceeds DKK 2,000, you must include the whole gain or the whole loss. The threshold applies to each spouse separately."
Three traps at once: it covers the sum of three different sources, it is a threshold and not an allowance, and it does not double for a married couple.
Worked example
A loss of DKK 1,999 gives you nothing. A loss of DKK 2,001 is deductible in full at DKK 2,001 - not just the krone above the threshold. And if you have DKK 1,200 of gain on bonds, DKK 900 on a bond-based IMB unit and DKK 100 on foreign-currency debt, the aggregate is DKK 2,200 and all three count.
⚠️ P2P: the loss counts only once it is final
Interest from a P2P platform is capital income in rubrik 431 from the moment it is credited. A loss on the loan principal is a claim under KGL § 14 and falls inside the DKK 2,000 aggregate - but only once the loss is final. A loan that is merely late or in default is not yet a realised loss.
Crypto - the gross principle, FIFO and cross-trades
Crypto falls under spekulation in statsskatteloven § 5, litra a. Gains are personal income (though without the 8% AM-bidrag) and losses are a ligningsmæssigt fradrag. The Tax Law Council's October-2024 recommendation to move to mark-to-market has, as skat.dk itself notes, "not been dealt with by the Folketing" - so the current rules below are what applies.
🔴 Gains and losses are NOT netted against each other
skat.dk: "You must compute gains and losses separately, and therefore you may not as a rule offset the loss from one trade against the gain from other trades ... So you must report total gains and total losses in two different boxes."
Worked example: you have DKK 40,000 of gain on one trade and DKK 40,000 of loss on another. You broke exactly even. You still report DKK 40,000 in rubrik 20 and DKK 40,000 in rubrik 58. The gain is taxed at up to about 53% (roughly DKK 21,200), while the loss only relieves at about 26% (roughly DKK 10,400). A break-even year can therefore cost you around DKK 10,800.
The narrow exception
You may net where you held none of that coin beforehand, bought it in one purchase, and sold it in tranches within the same income year without buying more in between. All four conditions must hold - for each individual coin.
How each event is treated
| Event | Treatment | Box |
|---|---|---|
| Sale for fiat, at a gain | Personal income | 20 |
| Sale for fiat, at a loss | Ligningsmæssigt fradrag | 58 |
| Cross-trade (crypto for crypto) | Taxable disposal of what you gave up | 20 / 58 |
| Staking rewards | Personal income on receipt; that value becomes the basis | 20 |
| Interest paid in crypto ("earn") | Personal income when credited | 20 |
| Mining | Hobby business: profit is taxed, a loss is not deductible | 20 |
| Airdrop (advertising gift) | Personal income at the value on receipt | 20 |
| Hard fork | Acquisition sum of DKK 0 - the whole sale price is gain | 20 |
| Stablecoin as a financial contract | Capital income, mark-to-market | 346 |
FIFO is pooled across every exchange and wallet
skat.dk: FIFO applies "regardless of which exchange service or wallet you sold or swapped from, because your holdings are regarded as one single holding". Leave one exchange out of your upload and it shifts the cost basis of every later disposal.
Cross-trades: the priority method
In a trade between two crypto-assets there must be no difference between the value of what is bought and what is sold. Both legs are therefore valued at the price of the higher-priority asset: first stablecoins whose underlying is a fiat currency, then the largest crypto-assets.
SKAT's own example: you sell 1 BTC worth DKK 50,000 for 3 ETH worth DKK 60,000 in total. BTC outranks ETH, so both legs are valued at DKK 50,000. Value each leg at its own market price and you invent DKK 10,000 of gain or loss out of nothing.
What Tax-Wizard does
We keep gains and losses in separate columns end to end, so the gross principle stays visible and cannot vanish into a net figure. FIFO is pooled across every exchange and wallet you upload. Cross-trades are flagged and the priority ranking is documented so you can check the valuation. The netting exception is off by default - you have to actively confirm its conditions hold.
Dividends and the foreign withholding-tax credit
Foreign dividends are reported gross, before the foreign withholding tax. The credit is then given separately - but only up to a point.
The credit is the lesser of three amounts (LL § 33)
- The tax actually withheld
- What the source state has an unconditional treaty right to collect (stk. 2) - typically 15% of the gross dividend
- The Danish tax attributable to that income (stk. 1)
⚠️ Excess withholding is not creditable in Denmark
If a US broker withheld 30% because no W-8BEN was on file, you can only credit the 15% the US is entitled to under the treaty. The other 15% is not lost, but it has to be reclaimed from the source country's tax authority - not deducted here. Tax-Wizard computes that amount per country so you can see exactly how much to reclaim where.
One form 04.012 per country
Form 04.012 says it plainly: "If you have incomes from several countries, you must complete one tax return form for each country." The credit is therefore computed per source country and never pooled. Foreign dividend tax paid goes in rubrik 496 (the share-income side) and creditable foreign tax on capital income in rubrik 495K.
Return of capital - the opposite of what you are used to
In many countries a "return of capital" reduces your cost basis instead of being taxed. Not in Denmark.
⚠️ It is taxed as a dividend, and your basis stays put
skat.dk: "If your company has carried out a capital reduction with a simultaneous payment to you, the payment is taxed as a dividend from the company. Your acquisition sum will still be the original acquisition sum." Capital-gain treatment requires a specific dispensation under LL § 16 A, stk. 3 / § 16 B, stk. 2.
What Tax-Wizard does
If your broker labelled a payment "return of capital" and the calculation engine therefore reduced your cost basis, we flag the line on the Review sheet with an explanation - so you can move the amount to the dividend boxes and leave your acquisition sum alone, as Danish practice requires.
Aktiesparekonto - and why it is not in this report
An aktiesparekonto is taxed at 17% on a mark-to-market basis, and your bank computes and pays the tax for you. The deposit cap is DKK 174,200 for 2026 (DKK 166,200 for 2025), and you may only hold one. Only people with full Danish tax liability can open one.
Danish institutions only
A foreign broker cannot offer an aktiesparekonto, so your account at Revolut, IBKR, eToro, Trading212 or DEGIRO is an ordinary custody account - which is exactly what this guide and the report cover. If you also hold an aktiesparekonto, nothing from it belongs on your return; the bank has already dealt with it.
Asset disclosures - the part people forget
Beyond the income boxes you must report the value of your non-Danish assets at 31 December every year. It is not income, but it is a separate reporting obligation.
| Box | What to report |
|---|---|
| 490 | The DKK market value of shares in a non-Danish custody account and of non-Danish investment units |
| 492 | Deposits in non-Danish banks and the market value of non-Danish bonds and mortgage deeds held abroad |
| 493 | Debt to non-Danish banks - a margin loan with your broker, for instance |
Cash and debt are not in a trade export
Tax-Wizard can compute rubrik 490 and the securities part of rubrik 492 from your uploads, but cash balances and debt do not appear in an ordinary trade export. Take those from your broker's year-end statement.
How to file - and when
⚠️ There is no XML filing for individuals
Denmark has no file a private individual can submit. You type the figures into TastSelv Borger box by box, or fill forms 04.003 (the return), 04.012 (non-Danish income - one per source country) and 04.055 (carry-forwards). Advisers can file electronically through professional systems, but there is no public schema an app could target. That is why the first sheet of the Tax-Wizard workbook is a plain transcription list: every rubrik with the exact amount - and we submit nothing on your behalf.
Dates for income year 2025 (filed in 2026)
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| January 2026 | SKAT receives data from employers and Danish banks |
| 23 March 2026 | The årsopgørelse is available in TastSelv |
| 24 April 2026 | Refunds start being paid out |
| 20 May 2026 | Deadline to correct the årsopgørelse (normally 1 May, extended this year) |
| 1 July 2026 | Deadline for the oplysningsskema - mandatory when you have foreign income or assets |
| 1 July 2026 | Deadline to report PURCHASES made in 2025 (ABL § 19 D, jf. § 14) |
| 1 July 2026 | Deadline to pay residual tax without a percentage surcharge |
With foreign income your deadline is always 1 July
Even though the årsopgørelse looks finished in March, you are on the extended deadline once you have foreign income or assets. That buys you extra time - but it also makes the oplysningsskema mandatory rather than optional.
Glossary and sources
Danish → English
| Aktieindkomst | Share income | Kapitalindkomst | Capital income |
| Gennemsnitsmetoden | Average-cost method | Lagerprincippet | Mark-to-market |
| Anskaffelsessum | Acquisition cost | Afståelsessum | Disposal proceeds |
| Oplysningsskema | Tax return | Årsopgørelse | Tax assessment notice |
| Rubrik | Box / field | Krydshandel | Crypto-to-crypto trade |
| Kildeartsbegrænset | Ring-fenced (loss) | Lempelse | Foreign tax credit |
| Bagatelgrænse | De-minimis threshold | Ligningsmæssigt fradrag | Lower-value deduction |
Sources
- skat.dk - Skat af aktier (average cost, boxes, rates, loss conditions)
- skat.dk - Skat af investeringsbeviser (the full box list for funds)
- skat.dk - Finansielle kontrakter (mark-to-market, boxes 346/85/86/87/88)
- skat.dk - Skat på krypto (the gross principle, FIFO, boxes 20 and 58)
- skat.dk - Krydshandler (the priority method)
- skat.dk - Staking og mining
- skat.dk - Aktiesparekonto (17%, deposit cap)
- Skattestyrelsen - IFPA page: the ABIS list of share-based investment companies
- skat.dk - Årsopgørelsen: hvornår sker hvad (deadlines)
- Form 04.012 - tax return for non-Danish income (one per country)
- Aktieavancebeskatningsloven § 19 B (share-based investment company, 1 November notice)
- Aktieavancebeskatningsloven § 19 C (bond-based by default)
- Aktieavancebeskatningsloven § 19 D (the loss-deduction condition)
- Aktieavancebeskatningsloven § 13 A (losses on listed shares)
- Aktieavancebeskatningsloven § 22 (bond-based IMB, the DKK 2,000 threshold)
- Aktieavancebeskatningsloven § 26 (the average-cost method)
- Kursgevinstloven § 32 (loss restriction on financial contracts)
- Ligningsloven § 33 (relief for foreign tax)
- Den juridiske vejledning C.B.2.1.5.2 - Valutakurssvingninger
- Den juridiske vejledning C.B.4.3.2 - share-based investment companies
- Skatteministeriet - rates and thresholds in the Personal Income Tax Act
- Danmarks Nationalbank - exchange rates
Ready to get started?
Upload your broker files and Tax-Wizard builds your Danish report: average cost pooled across every custody account, funds resolved against the ABIS list for your income year, mark-to-market with opening and closing values, Nationalbanken rates per transaction date, crypto gross in rubrik 20 and 58 - and a ready-made list of the purchases you must report before 1 July.
Start now →This guide is informational and does not constitute tax advice. It covers income years 2025 and 2026; verify your own situation with a Danish accountant or tax adviser. Box numbers can change between years - check them against the year's own form.
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