Dividend Tax and Dividends in Denmark in 2026
After a Danish limited liability company (ApS or A/S) pays corporate income tax, it can distribute the remaining profits as dividends to its shareholders. For individual (physical person) shareholders who are tax resident in Denmark, dividend tax typically ranges from 27% to 42%, depending on how much dividend is distributed; in 2026, resident individuals can receive up to 79.400 DKK (unmarried) or 158.800 DKK (married) at the lower 27% rate. Dividend tax for company shareholders works differently: holding companies generally pay 0% dividend tax when they own 10% or more of the company distributing the dividend.
Dividend Tax and Dividends in Denmark in 2026
This blog discusses dividend tax and dividends for shareholders of ApS and A/S companies in Denmark in 2026.
If you are looking for information on corporate income tax instead, read our dedicated guide on corporate income tax here.
Relevant tax rates and limits used in this blog
| RESIDENT PHYSICAL PERSON (individual shareholder) | Year 2025 | Year 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Dividend tax: This is the low tax rate when the dividend is below the limit | 27% | 27% |
| Dividend tax: This is the high tax rate when the dividend is above the limit | 42% | 42% |
| Dividend tax: Limit where the low tax rate changes to the high tax rate, unmarried | 67.500 DKK | 79.400 DKK |
| Dividend tax: Limit where the low tax rate changes to the high tax rate, married | 135.000 DKK | 158.800 DKK |
| Mellemskat (new bracket from 2026): Limit after 8% AM-contribution is deducted | N/A | 641.200 DKK |
| Mellemskat rate | N/A | 7,5% |
| Maximum tax bracket (“topskat” through 2025, “topskat” bracket from 2026): Limit after 8% AM-contribution is deducted | 611.800 DKK | 777.900 DKK |
| Maximum tax bracket: Limit when 8% AM-contribution is not deducted | 665.000 DKK | 845.500 DKK |
| Maximum tax rate (“topskat”) | 15% | 7,5% (combined with mellemskat: 15%) |
| Top-topskat (new bracket from 2026): Limit after 8% AM-contribution is deducted | N/A | 2.592.700 DKK |
| Top-topskat rate | N/A | 5% (combined with mellemskat and topskat: 20%) |
| Tax ceiling (“skatteloft”) | 52,07% | 52,07% |
| RESIDENT COMPANY | DIVIDEND TAX |
|---|---|
| When owning 10% or more of an unlisted company (subsidiary/group shares) | 0% |
| When owning less than 10% of an unlisted company (unlisted portfolio shares), for dividends distributed on or after 1 January 2025 | 0% (previously 15,4% for dividends distributed before this date) |
| When owning 10% or more of a listed company | 22% |
| When owning less than 10% of a listed company (listed portfolio shares) | 22% |
Relevant deadlines used in this blog
| DESCRIPTION | DEADLINE |
|---|---|
| Deadline for paying dividend tax | 10 days following the month where the decision to distribute the dividend was made |
What is a dividend?
A dividend is a part of the profit passed to the company’s owners, after the company’s corporate income tax has been paid. If you’d like to understand how that corporate tax is calculated first, read our guide on corporate income tax here.
This is called:
– To pay a dividend;
– To distribute a dividend.
The company does not have to pay a dividend to the owners of the company if there has been a profit.
However, doing this can often make sense if there is a lot of money in the company.
Furthermore, if you both own the company and are employed by the company as a director with a salary, there may be a tax gain for you by paying yourself a dividend (read more below).
What amounts can be distributed as dividends?
The company can distribute reserves as dividends to the shareholders.
Reserves are profits after company income tax is paid, which is accumulated in the company.
When can a dividend be distributed?
When a company has a profit, dividends can be distributed to the shareholders.
How to distribute a dividend?
A dividend must always be approved at a general meeting.
There are two types of general meetings.
The ordinary general meeting:
This is where the shareholders approve the annual report. It is also where the shareholders can decide that a dividend must be distributed to the shareholders based on the result they have just approved.
The ordinary general meeting is held once per year.
The extraordinary general meeting:
An extraordinary general meeting can be held during the year if some important decisions cannot wait until the ordinary general meeting.
These may be changes to the management, new auditor, etc., but this also applies to the distribution of dividends for the current year.
Dividends and dividend tax must be declared to the Danish Tax Agency
The decision to distribute a dividend is recorded in the general meeting minutes.
The dividend and the dividend tax are then reported to the Danish Tax Agency on SKAT Erhverv.
Distribution of dividends in the first fiscal year
It is not allowed to distribute dividends during the first fiscal year.
A dividend can be distributed after the fiscal year has ended, and the annual report has been approved at the annual general assembly meeting.
The distributed dividend and dividend tax must be declared to the Danish Tax Agency.
Distribution of dividends in the second fiscal year and later
During the second fiscal year, it is allowed to distribute dividends during the year also, as long as the dividends are approved at an extraordinary general meeting.
Read how to distribute an extraordinary dividend here
When distributing ordinary dividends for 2025, use the dividend tax rates for 2026
When distributing ordinary dividends for 2025 at the annual general meeting, which is held in 2026, remember to use the dividend tax rates for 2026.
So even though dividends are distributed for 2025, you still get to use the rates for 2026 because the decision is made in 2026.
Distribution of dividends to physical persons that are residents of Denmark
Dividend tax needs to be paid when dividends are distributed to shareholders which are physical persons.
The first 79.400 DKK (2026) is taxed with a 27% dividend tax.
If the dividend exceeds 79.400 DKK (2026), the dividend tax is 42% on everything exceeding 79.400 DKK (2026).
If the shareholder is married, the limit where the dividend tax changes from 27% to 42% is 158.800 DKK (2026).
The company must withhold the 27% dividend tax from the distributed dividend and pay this dividend tax directly to the Danish Tax Agency.
The dividend and dividend tax is declared on SKAT Erhverv, the Danish Tax Agency website.
The dividend tax is due for payment the following month on the 10th day.
The company uses the payment details for “Skattekontoen” to pay the dividend tax.
The payment ID is shown when submitting the dividend and dividend tax declaration.
The remaining tax, if the shareholder also needs to pay a 42% dividend tax on amounts exceeding 79.400 DKK (2026), is paid by the shareholder to the Danish Tax Agency.
This can be done as a pre-payment on the year’s self-assessment or the annual tax summary.
Distribution of dividends to physical persons that are non-residents of Denmark
For non-residents of Denmark, the company withholds dividend tax at the standard Danish rate of 27%, in the same way as for Danish residents.
The final tax the non-resident shareholder is entitled to pay will typically depend on the double taxation treaty between their country of residence and Denmark. Many treaties reduce the final rate to 15%, but this varies by treaty and by the specific circumstances.
If the treaty rate is lower than the 27% withheld, the non-resident shareholder must actively apply to the Danish Tax Agency for a refund of the difference. The reduced rate is generally not applied automatically at the time of payment.
Be aware that the Danish Tax Agency has significantly tightened its documentation requirements and case processing for these refund claims in recent years, following a major dividend tax fraud case, so refund applications now typically take longer and require more thorough documentation of beneficial ownership than in the past.
Read more about declaring and reclaiming dividend tax here
Distribution of dividends to holding companies that own 10% or more of an unlisted company
Holding companies in Denmark that own 10% or more of an unlisted company in Denmark do not have to pay dividend tax when receiving a dividend from the unlisted company.
Distribution of dividends to holding companies that own less than 10% of an unlisted company
Holding companies that own less than 10% of another unlisted Danish company (so-called “unlisted portfolio shares”) historically paid an effective 15,4% dividend tax (calculated as a 22% tax on 70% of the dividend).
Following the “Iværksætterpakken” reform (law L28, passed 19 December 2024), this 15,4% dividend tax has been abolished for dividends distributed on or after 1 January 2025. Dividends from unlisted portfolio shares are now effectively tax-free for the receiving Danish company.
Two things worth knowing about this change:
Note that this change only applies to unlisted portfolio shares. Dividends from listed portfolio shares (ownership under 10% in a company listed on a stock exchange) are still taxed at 22%, as shown in the table above.
Payment of dividend tax
Dividend tax must be paid on the 10th of the month following the decision to distribute the dividend.
Once you have declared the dividend and dividend tax on SKAT Erhverv, the dividend tax will appear on the “Skattekonto” when due for payment.
When submitting the declaration, you pay the dividend tax with the payment ID on the confirmation.
Read more about declaring dividend here
If your company is owned by a holding company
Suppose you have a profit in your limited liability company, and you want to transfer this profit to your holding company. In that case, it comes down to how many shares your holding company owns and whether the holding company will need to pay dividend tax.
Suppose your holding company owns 10% or more of the shares of the company. In that case, the company can distribute the dividend to the holding company without withholding dividend tax.
Why would you transfer a dividend to the holding company?
By transferring the profit from the company to the holding company, creditors will not be able to claim this money later if something goes wrong.
This is because the money has been paid out as a dividend to the holding company.
When the money is paid to the holding company, you can use it for new investments or hold it there for safety purposes.
The Danish Tax Agency can, in some situations, claim the money again from the holding company if, for example, employee taxes are unpaid in the company (but this requires a 50% or more shareholder stake by the holding company).
Read more about holding companies here
How to optimally structure your remuneration as director and shareholder?
If you are the sole shareholder and director, and you are a physical person (not a holding company), you can also pay money to yourself from the company.
There are two ways you can do this:
1: Salary
You can be hired as the director in the company, even though you are also the shareholder, and then receive a salary for your work.
2: Dividend
You can receive a dividend from the company if there is a profit after the company income tax is paid (currently 22% for most companies, see our corporate income tax guide for details).
As a physical person shareholder, dividends up to 79.400 DKK are taxed at 27% (2026).
Dividends exceeding 79.400 DKK are taxed at 42% (2026).
If you are married, a double limit of 158.800 DKK applies (2026).
Important change from 2026: personal income tax now has four brackets instead of two
Through 2025, the “salary vs. dividend” question was relatively simple, since personal income above the topskat threshold was taxed at a flat extra 15%.
From 2026, a tax reform has replaced that single threshold with a graduated system:
This means the “best” mix of salary and dividend now depends on which of these bands your personal income falls into, and can no longer be reduced to a single rule of thumb. The general principles below still hold, but the exact optimal split should be calculated individually.
Examples of the calculation of dividend tax and total taxes
If the corporate income tax is 22%, dividends up to 79.400 DKK are taxed at 27% (2026), and dividends exceeding 79.400 DKK are taxed at 42% (2026), then the calculation looks like this:
Dividend paid: 50.000 DKK
To pay the dividend, the company already had to pay 22% of the company’s income as corporation tax.
The 22% corporate income tax is 14.102 DKK (profit before tax: 64.102 DKK – company income tax of 22%: 14.102 DKK = the remaining amount is 50.000 DKK, which then can be paid as a dividend).
You must then pay an additional 27% dividend tax from the 50.000 DKK.
This will be: 13.500 DKK
You will have paid the following taxes: 14.102 DKK (22% corporate income tax) + 13.500 DKK (dividend tax) = 27.602 DKK in company income tax and dividend tax, or what equals 43,06% of the 64.102 DKK profit before tax.
Dividend paid: 100.000 DKK
To pay the dividend, the company already had to pay 22% of the company income tax.
The 22% company income tax is 28.205 DKK (profit before tax: 128.205 DKK – company income tax of 22%: 28.205 DKK = the remaining amount is 100.000 DKK, which then can be paid as a dividend).
Since the 2026 dividend tax threshold is 79.400 DKK, you now need to pay a 27% dividend tax on the first 79.400 DKK, which amounts to 21.438 DKK.
Furthermore, you need to pay a 42% dividend tax on the dividend exceeding the 79.400 DKK (42% of 100.000 DKK – 79.400 DKK = 20.600 DKK * 42%), which equals: 8.652 DKK.
In total, you will have paid the following taxes: 28.205 DKK (22% company income tax) + 21.438 DKK (dividend tax 27% up to 79.400 DKK) + 8.652 DKK (dividend tax 42% of the dividend exceeding 79.400 DKK) = 58.295 DKK in total corporate income tax and dividend tax, or what equals 45,47% of the 128.205 DKK profit before tax.
Married couples
There are special rules if you are married.
The amount you can pay as a dividend with the 27% dividend tax is doubled so that instead of 79.400 DKK, you can pay out 158.800 DKK (2026).
So what is the better option – to receive a salary or to receive a dividend?
For many, it is still generally advantageous to first receive a salary up to the point where the marginal tax on salary starts to clearly exceed the combined tax on a dividend, and then use the low 27% dividend rate up to the applicable threshold before considering further salary.
However, because personal income tax now has four brackets (see above) instead of a single maximum tax bracket, the crossover point between “salary is better” and “dividend is better” depends on where your total personal income falls across these bands, and on your municipal and church tax rates. As a rough guide for 2026:
1: Salary up to the mellemskat threshold (2026: gross salary before ATP and 8% AM-contribution deducted, approximately 697.000 DKK) is generally still efficient, since combined tax here (bundskat, AM-bidrag, kommuneskat) tends to be lower than the combined corporate and dividend tax.
2: Dividend up to the limit of the low 27% dividend tax rate (2026: 79.400 DKK if you are not married, and 158.800 DKK if you are married) is usually attractive, since the combined rate (roughly 43%) is often lower than mellemskat, topskat or top-topskat on additional salary.
3: Beyond this, whether further income should be taken as salary (at mellemskat, topskat or top-topskat rates) or as dividend (at the 42% rate, combined with corporate tax) needs a specific calculation, since the two can be close depending on your municipality and personal circumstances.
We recommend running the actual numbers for your specific situation rather than relying on a general rule of thumb, since the gap between the options has narrowed for many business owners under the new bracket structure.
(This blog is updated: 22.7.2026)
FAQ
What is a dividend?
A dividend is a part of a company's profit, after corporate income tax has been paid, that is passed to the company's shareholders.
When can a company distribute a dividend?
A dividend can be distributed once a company has a profit and has completed its first fiscal year. It is not allowed to distribute a dividend during a company's first fiscal year.
How is a dividend approved?
A dividend must be approved at a general meeting, either the ordinary general meeting (where the annual report is also approved) or an extraordinary general meeting held during the year.
What is the dividend tax rate for resident individual shareholders in 2026?
For shareholders who are physical persons and tax resident in Denmark, the first 79.400 DKK (or 158.800 DKK if married) is taxed at 27%. Dividend amounts exceeding this threshold are taxed at 42%. Note that this 27%/42% structure applies only to individual shareholders. Resident companies, including holding companies, follow a separate set of rules based on ownership percentage (see question 7), not these progressive rates.
Which dividend tax rates apply for the 2025 vs. 2026 income years?
The rates themselves (27% and 42%) are unchanged, but the threshold where the higher rate kicks in has risen from 67.500 DKK (2025) to 79.400 DKK (2026) for unmarried shareholders, and from 135.000 DKK to 158.800 DKK for married shareholders.
How is dividend tax handled for non-resident shareholders?
The Danish company withholds dividend tax at the standard rate of 27%, the same as for residents. If a double taxation treaty between Denmark and the shareholder's country of residence provides for a lower rate (often 15%), the shareholder must actively apply to the Danish Tax Agency for a refund of the difference, it is not applied automatically at the time of payment.
Do holding companies pay dividend tax?
Holding companies are taxed differently from individual shareholders (see question 4). A holding company that owns 10% or more of the unlisted company distributing the dividend generally pays 0% dividend tax. A holding company that owns less than 10% of an unlisted company (unlisted portfolio shares) also now pays 0%, following a 2024 reform that abolished the previous 15,4% rate for dividends distributed on or after 1 January 2025. Withholding still applies at source in this case, so the receiving company must reclaim the tax to reach the final 0% rate. Dividends from listed portfolio shares (under 10% ownership in a listed company) remain taxed at 22%.
When must dividend tax be paid?
Dividend tax must be declared and paid by the 10th day of the month following the decision to distribute the dividend, via SKAT Erhverv and the company's Skattekonto.
Is it better to take money out of a company as salary or as dividend?
It depends on where your total personal income falls, since personal income tax now has four brackets from 2026 (bundskat, mellemskat, topskat, and top-topskat) instead of the old single maximum tax bracket. As a general guide, salary up to the mellemskat threshold and dividends up to the low 27% rate are usually efficient, but the optimal split beyond that should be calculated individually.
Why might a company distribute a dividend to its holding company rather than keep it?
Paying a dividend up to a holding company protects the funds from creditors of the operating company if something goes wrong, since the money is no longer held by the operating company. It also allows the funds to be reinvested or held safely at the holding level.