As an employee of Aalborg University (AAU), you may be eligible for the researcher tax scheme. The researcher tax scheme applies to you, if you are employed as a postdoc, assistant professor, associate professor or professor. The researcher tax scheme only applies to salary received from AAU. Other income will be taxed according to the regular tax rules.

Employees who are covered by the special researcher tax scheme can get a 27% flat rate tax + 8% labour market contributions, a total tax rate of 32.84%, for a period of maximum 84 months (7 years). These months can be distributed among several different work periods. The 27 % tax is calculated after the deduction of the 8 % labour market contribution. 

REQUIREMENTS
In order to be covered by the flat rate tax of 32.84%, it is a requirement that you are employed in a post doc position or above and that you have not been tax liable to Denmark 10 years prior to your employment at AAU.

This also means that if you register in Denmark more than one month prior to the beginning of your employment at AAU, you will not be eligible for the researcher taxation. Furthermore, if you have a gap in your employment of more than one month and keep your address in Denmark, you may not be eligible to continue on the researcher taxation. 
 

PROCEDURE
Researcher taxation needs to be approved by the Danish tax authorities. In order to apply for the researcher tax, you must follow these steps:

• Register with the civil registration office and obtain a CPR number.
• Fill in the special researcher taxation form (you will receive an e-mail from the International Staff Unit (ISU))
• ISU will send the completed form to the HR Service Centre for further processing.
• The HR Service Centre will send your application to the tax authorities, which will confirm registration after a handling time of up to two months.

No tax card is needed for individuals covered by the researcher tax scheme with no other income or assets that are taxable in Denmark.

It is also possible to be on the researcher taxation scheme, if you are employed in Denmark but live abroad. It is a requirement that you work in Denmark at least one day a month.

Please contact ISU, you have any further questions.

Read more about the tax scheme for foreign researchers and highly-paid employees on SKAT's website.

International staff members must pay income tax in Denmark on the salary earned in Denmark.

In Denmark, the tax system is progressive, which means that the more money you earn, the higher percentage you pay in direct tax.

When coming to Denmark to work, you need a personal tax number and a tax card. The tax card is issued by the Danish Tax Agency (Skattestyrelsen). If you are here for less than three months, you can find more information under Stays under 90 days further down below. 

The tax card ensures that you get the tax allowances you are entitled to before AAU withholds tax from your income. If you do not apply for a tax card as soon as you start your employment, AAU will deduct 55 % tax from your salary as standard procedure.

The tax card is not a physical card, but an electronic one, and gives AAU access to your tax information. 

You can apply for the tax card online at the webpage of Skattestyrelsen. 

Remember to enclose the following documents when registering online for the tax card: 

• ID with photo, such as a passport or national ID Card
• Marriage certificate if you are married (family certificate if you are a Swedish citizen)
• Work permit if you are a citizen from outside the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland or Norway 
• Employment contract (signed by you and your employer)

If you have previously worked in Denmark, you will already have a CPR number or a personal tax number.

When you have completed the online form (04.063) and attached the documents required, you will receive a preliminary income assessment (forskudsopgørelse) within two weeks.

You can see your tax card information on the first page of your preliminary income assessment (forskudsopgørelse). The tax card contains information about your withholding rate, deductions and allowances.

Employees may have work related allowances and deductions taken into account in their annual tax statement. They are subtracted from the taxable income, thus reducing the taxes to be paid. Find more information about allowances and deductions on this link.

If you have any questions, please call Skattestyrelsen. 

If you are eligible for the researcher taxation scheme and wish to apply for this, please contact the International Staff Unit.

Please note that AAU will apply for the researcher taxation scheme for you, if you are eligible, and that it does not require that you register for a tax card.

Find out more about the researcher taxation scheme below.

E-tax (TastSelv) is the online self-service system for SKAT. 

You can update your tax information yourself in your tax folder (skattemappe) via e-tax for individuals on the Internet. You should update your tax information if you:

• Get a new job with substantially higher or lower pay
• Start your own business
• Are unemployed, on a pension or retire early
• Change your marital status
• Buy or sell a house or apartment
• Convert or redeem loans, e.g. a housing loan
• Join a capital pension scheme or another private pension scheme
• Move, and the distance between your home and work is considerably longer or shorter (your transport allowance must be changed)
• There are significant changes in your capital income

The tax year in Denmark runs from 1 January to 31 December.The Danish tax authorities provide a tax calendar for individuals (and for business), where you can see the deadlines for different taxation issues.

• Preliminary tax assessment notice (selvangivelse): from February you can make changes to the data which is in your online tax folder. You will see the tax that has been calculated for the previous year and which tax allowances and deductions have been taken into account. Make corrections if necessary.
• Annual tax statement/tax assessment notice (årsopgørelse): from March you will be able to see your tax assessment notice for the previous year. Corrections should be done latest by May 1.
• Preliminary income assessment (forskudsopgørelse): each year in November, SKAT generates a preliminary income assessment of your expected income for the following year. You should update your SKAT data if your figures are not correct.
   

PRELIMINARY TAX ASSESSMENT NOTICE
The preliminary income assessment (forskudsopgørelse) shows how much tax you have to pay in the coming tax year. You will receive your preliminary income assessment electronically every year in November. You can view your preliminary income assessment notice in your tax folder (skattemappe) via e-tax for individuals (TastSelv) online.

Read more about preliminary income assessment on SKAT’s website.

IMPORTANT IN NOVEMBER: How to change your preliminary tax assessment notice:

In case you need to change your preliminary income assessment, SKAT has made a step-by-step guide to how to make changes in the preliminary income assessment. See information about how to change your preliminary income assessment.

ANNUAL TAX ASSESSMENT NOTICE
The tax assessment notice is a form showing all the figures known to SKAT for the preceding tax year concerning your income, allowances etc. Every year in March/April, you will receive a tax assessment notice. You can view your annual tax assessment notice in your tax folder (skattemappe) via e-tax for individuals (TastSelv) on the Internet.

You can see an example of an annual tax assessment notice under SKAT: Guides on the SKAT website.

Read more about how to correct your annual tax statement.

Below you will find a Danish glossary list with English translations and explanatory texts to key taxation terms.  

• A-indkomst (A income): A income is income such as pay, unemployment benefits, state education grants (SU) etc. on which A tax is withheld.
• A-skat (A tax): The tax which is charged on A income, i.e. your ordinary income. Your employer will calculate your A tax based on your withholding rate.
• Arbejdsmarkedsbidrag (Labour market contribution): All working citizens must contribute a labour market contribution at a rate of 8 %. The contribution is deducted from your gross pay after ATP has been deducted and before other allowances are deducted. Your tax is then calculated.
• ATP, Arbejdsmarkedetstillægspension (Labour Market Supplementary Pension Fund): All employees between the age of 16 and 66 will pay to this pension scheme. The amount is deducted from your full pay (gross pay) before your tax is calculated.
• B-indkomst (B income): B income is income which has not been taxed when paid to you. B income may be fees or profits from self-employed business activities and interest receivable. Such income is subject to B tax. B taxes are normally paid in up to 10 instalments by means giro transfer forms received from SKAT. For a number of taxpayers, however, the B tax is included in the calculation of the withholding rate
• Fradrag (Allowances and deductions): The allowance corresponding to the pay period is deducted before the tax is calculated. From your tax card, your employer can see what your allowances and deductions are.
• Ferie (Holiday): All employees will usually be entitled to holiday. This means that in addition to your pay, you will receive 12.5 % which is deposited into a holiday account and paid to you when you go on holiday.
• Forskudsopgørelse (Preliminary income assessment): each year in November, SKAT generates a preliminary income assessment of your expected income for the following year. You should update your SKAT data if your figures are not correct.
• Løn (pay): Could also be stated as “honorar”(fee), “indtægt” (income) etc. Your pay is usually stated at the top of the payslip, and the amount is your full pay before tax is deducted. At the bottom of the calculation the following is usually stated: “Løn til udbetaling” (Pay for disbursement), showing the actual amount that you will be paid.
• Selvangivelse (Preliminary income tax return): from February you can make changes to the data which is in your online tax folder. You will see the tax that has been calculated for the previous year and what tax allowances and deductions have been taken into account. Make corrections if necessary.
• SP, Særlig Pensionsopsparing (Special Pension Savings): All employees must usually pay a SP contribution of 1 %.
• Årsopgørelse (Annual tax statement or tax assessment notice): from March you will be able to see your annual tax statement for the previous year. Corrections should be done latest by May 1.

SALARY
When you receive your salary, tax has already been deducted. 

FIND YOUR PAYSLIP VIA E-BOKS
As an employee at Aalborg University (AAU), your payslip is available via www.e-boks.dk.

E-boks is a secure electronic mailbox where you can receive and store the documents you normally receive by post. Your payslip will inform you about your salary and the tax you have paid. Every time you receive your payslip, you should check that the figures are correct. You should also save your payslips until the end of the tax year and until your tax for the year has been calculated (on the annual tax statement). Your payslips are proof that you have paid tax.

PROPERTY VALUE TAX (EJENDOMSVÆRDISKAT) 
If you own a house or a flat, you must pay property value tax. The tax is 1 % of the property value. The property value is determined by the public authorities every other year.

People living in Denmark must also pay property value tax on any foreign property that they own, and persons living abroad must pay property value tax on any property that they own in Denmark.

The property value tax is included in the total tax paid over the year. SKAT will usually obtain the required information, but if you have recently bought a house, the tax is not included in your preliminary income assessment and your tax card. You should then contact your local tax centre to obtain a new tax card.

PROPERTY TAX (EJENDOMSSKAT)
If you own a house, a flat or a plot of land, you must also pay property tax to the municipality based on the actual property value. The property tax is assessed and collected directly by each municipality and will differ from municipality to municipality.

Topics from SKAT:

• Public property assessment and Property tax

MOTOR VEHICLES
Because of the 25 % VAT and a very high registration tax, it is expensive to drive a car in Denmark. Many people choose not to bring their car with them to Denmark for this reason. 

The taxation on motor vehicles in Denmark depends on whether you own a vehicle here or you bring your foreign registered motor vehicle to Denmark. If you bring your vehicle with foreign number plates to Denmark, you have three options:

1. Apply for permission to drive your vehicle in Denmark without paying Danish registration tax. This may be relevant if, for example, you are staying in Denmark as a student or because of short-term employment.

Note that you are allowed to drive a foreign vehicle in Denmark if:

• The vehicle has temporary stickers that are valid for a maximum of seven days. The stickers must have been issued by a competent authority in an EU/EEA state, the Faroe Islands or Greenland.
• The vehicle has been rented abroad for a maximum of seven days; the driver's name must be listed on the rental agreement, and the driver must drive from the border directly to the destination in Denmark where the vehicle is to be delivered according to the rental agreement.
• The registered owner or user is a passenger of the vehicle.

You need to bring the registration certificate and the permit for driving with temporary stickers, or the rental agreement when you use the vehicle in Denmark.

2. Seek permission from SKAT to pay quarterly a proportion of the normal vehicle registration tax.

3. Import your vehicle and have it registered to Danish number plates. You must do so within two weeks of arrival. In this case, you will need to pay full registration tax.

Find more information about the three options on Skat's website. Here you can also read about how to apply for these.  

PENSION
You are entitled to tax allowances and reliefs for the contributions you have paid into your approved pension plan(s). In the majority of cases, you automatically receive your tax relief and pay the right amount of tax on your pension and early retirement benefits. Remember to check or correct your preliminary income assessment when you contribute to a pension scheme.

On the website of the Danish taxation authorities, you can find information about:

• Pensions and early retirement benefits
• Danish pensions if you move abroad
• Pensions from an EU or EEA country

Employees may have work related allowances and deductions taken into account in their annual tax statement. They are subtracted from the taxable income, thus reducing the taxes to be paid. The most important allowances and deductions can be found below.

• Personal allowance (personfradrag): each taxpayer has a personal allowance. This will automatically be taken into account without you having to explicitly claim it.
• Employment allowance (beskæftigelsesfradrag): this amount will also be taken into account automatically.
• Transportation allowance (befordringsfradrag): part of the transportation costs if you commute to and from work can be taken into account in your tax statements. Find distance rates for daily travel to and from work.

Read more about deductions and allowances. 

If you bring a vehicle to Denmark and you take up residence in Denmark, the vehicle must be registered to Danish number plates within 14 days of arrival, and you must pay registration tax.

If you are bringing a car on foreign number plates into Denmark, you must present the car to the tax authorities (SKAT), for assessment. You will then have to pay Danish registration tax based on the assessed value. After that Danish number plates will be issued. Depending on certain criteria, you may be required to pay customs or VAT when bringing your car to Denmark. 

Read more about how to register your car and which documents to bring at the different stages on the website of  the Danish Tax Agency. 

If your stay in Denmark is shorter than three months, you may not be fully tax liable in Denmark.

Read more about tax liability when coming to work or live in Denmark on the official website for the Danish tax authorities (SKAT). 

RESEARCH VISIT FUNDED BY A FELLOWSHIP
There are a number of criteria, which form the basis for the taxation of fellowships such as whether you are a resident in Denmark, the length of stay and the type of stay. These criteria determine whether a fellowship will or will not be taxed in Denmark.

Please contact the International Staff Unit for more information.

TAX EXEMPTION
If you are granted a fellowship during your research visit, you may - under certain circumstances - be exempt from tax under the Danish Income Tax Act. You should always consult the Danish tax authorities to enquire about this. In order to sort out your tax situation, please contact your department, who will assist you in connection with a possible application for tax exemption.

Please be aware that a tax exemption of your fellowship in your home country or the country providing the fellowship does not necessarily apply in Denmark. You must therefore expect the fellowship to be tax liable in Denmark, regardless of any tax exemptions in other countries.

DEDUCTIONS AND ALLOWANCES
Under certain circumstances, you may have the right to deductions and allowances. See further information on the website of the Danish tax authorities (SKAT) or contact the Danish tax authorities (SKAT). 

HOW TO DECLARE A FELLOWSHIP
FELLOWSHIPS OFFERED BY AALBORG UNIVERSITY (AAU)
Fellowships offered by AAU are automatically declared to the Danish tax authorities (SKAT). You do not need to do anything but will be informed automatically whether or not your fellowship will be taxed.

FELLOWSHIPS OFFERED BY A DANISH FOUNDATION
Contact the scholarship provider if you receive a fellowship from a Danish foundation or other Danish sources (not AAU sources). The foundation can inform you whether you need to declare the fellowship or not.

NON-DANISH FELLOWSHIPS
Fellowships offered by non-Danish foundations must be declared to the Danish tax authorities (SKAT). You have to declare the fellowship income as “B-income” in your preliminary tax assessment of income. You can declare the fellowship in your online, personal tax-folder at www.skat.dk (only possible if you have registered at SKAT in Denmark) or contact the tax authorities (SKAT).

RESEARCH VISIT PAID BY SALARY FROM AAU
SPECIAL TAX SCHEME FOR FOREIGN RESEARCHERS
If you are an employed researcher at AAU, you may be liable for the special tax scheme for foreign researchers. On this scheme, researchers pay a 27% flat tax rate and an 8% labour market contribution.

The local HR Service Centres handle applications for the research taxation scheme. Please contact the International Staff Unit for questions about the researcher tax scheme.

TAXATION IF YOU ARE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR THE SPECIAL RESEARCHER TAXATION SCHEME
If you do not fulfil the conditions for the researcher taxation scheme, you must contact SKAT to enquire about your personal tax in relation to your stay in Denmark. The HR Service Centres do not guide you in personal tax matters.

You must register to get your personal tax card
If you are employed at AAU for three months or less, you will need to obtain a Danish tax card and Danish personal tax number. You apply for the tax card in person at the International Citizen Service upon arrival in Denmark or you apply online on the Danish Customs and Tax Administration website

The tax card ensures that you get the tax allowances and reliefs you are entitled to before AAU withholds tax from your income.

Each year in March/April, you will receive a preliminary tax statement. You should change the information in the preliminary tax statement if your income or allowances change considerably, or else you may risk having to pay back money in the following tax year. You change your tax card online via the self-service facility (TastSelv).

If you are on the researcher taxation scheme
If you have applied for the researcher taxation scheme, you do not need to register with the Danish tax authorities. AAU will do this automatically.

When you leave Denmark to live in another country, your full tax liability in Denmark normally ends. There are certain things you should remember, please have a look at SKAT's website.