Investing from Denmark: aktiesparekonto and lager taxation

• Share income (aktieindkomst) 2026: 27% on the first DKK 79,400 and 42% above that. For married couples living together the threshold doubles to DKK 158,800.
• Aktiesparekonto: 17% on the return, every year on the lager principle. Deposits up to DKK 174,200 (2026), one account per person; the bank settles the tax.
• Lager principle: for holdings in investeringsselskaber, realised and unrealised gains are taxed every year, and losses are deductible.
• Danish depot: banks report purchases to SKAT, and SKAT can often calculate gains and losses itself.
• Foreign depot: SKAT receives no data. You report purchases, gains, dividends and the depot's value yourself; losses on listed shares count only if SKAT knows of the purchase by 1 July of the following year.
• Protection: Garantiformuen covers securities up to EUR 20,000 per investor and deposits up to EUR 100,000.
• US dividends: 15% withholding tax under the treaty between the United States and Denmark.

Gains on shares and dividends are aktieindkomst. For 2026 the rate is 27% on the first DKK 79,400 and 42% on the part above that; in 2025 the threshold was DKK 67,500. For married couples living together, the doubled threshold applies to their combined aktieindkomst: DKK 158,800 in 2026 and DKK 135,000 in 2025.

Worked example for 2026, single: on aktieindkomst of DKK 100,000, 27% falls on DKK 79,400, or DKK 21,438, and 42% on the remaining DKK 20,600, or DKK 8,652. Together that is DKK 30,090.

Danish companies withhold 27% dividend tax on dividends paid to individuals resident in Denmark.

The aktiesparekonto is an account with its own tax rate. The rules according to SKAT:

• Who: only people who are fully liable to tax in Denmark; anyone with a permanent home there usually is. Children under 18 may also own an aktiesparekonto; it is taxed independently of their parents.
• One account: you may hold only one aktiesparekonto.
• Ceiling: deposits of up to DKK 174,200 for the 2026 calendar year (2025: DKK 166,200). Any amount above the ceiling attracts a levy of 3% every year.
• Tax: 17% on the return, measured on the lager principle at the end of the year. For comparison, aktieindkomst outside the account is taxed at no less than 27%.
• Losses: if the tax base is negative, the bank calculates a negative tax, which is deducted from the account's tax in the following years.
• Eligible holdings: shares traded on a regulated market or an MTF, units in minimum-taxed investment funds (minimumsbeskattede investeringsinstitutter) with at least half of their assets in shares, and, since 1 January 2020, equity-based investeringsselskaber registered with SKAT.
• Abroad: a form of aktiesparekonto opened abroad does not fall under these rules; SKAT treats it as an ordinary, free depot.

Worked example: if the account's value rises during the year from DKK 150,000 to DKK 160,000, with no deposits or withdrawals, the return on the lager principle is DKK 10,000 and the tax 17% of that, or DKK 1,700. That applies even if you sold nothing.

Holdings in investeringsselskaber are taxed on the lager principle. You therefore pay tax every year on realised and unrealised gains and can deduct realised and unrealised losses, even without selling.

Where the result goes depends on the type of investeringsselskab:

SKAT publishes a list of equity-based investeringsselskaber. The 2026 list was published on 28 September 2026 and applies to the whole 2026 income year. The SKAT pages we retrieved do not say which ETFs are investeringsselskaber, so check your fund against the list.

Banks and securities dealers in Denmark must report share purchases to SKAT by 20 January of the following year. For listed shares, SKAT can therefore often calculate gains and losses itself in its Værdipapirsystemet and carry the result to your annual tax statement (årsopgørelse).

With a foreign depot, SKAT receives no data from abroad. Then:

• Purchases: you send the purchase details to SKAT yourself.
• Losses: a loss on listed shares is deductible only if SKAT received the purchase details by 1 July of the year after the purchase.
• Gains: you calculate gains and losses on foreign shares yourself and enter them in box 454.
• Dividends: dividends on foreign shares go in box 452, and dividend tax paid abroad in box 496, up to the rate in the relevant double tax treaty.
• Depot value: every year you state the market value of your foreign depot on 31 December, converted into kroner. Box 490 is for shares in a foreign depot and investment certificates held abroad.

For US dividends, the treaty between the United States and Denmark limits withholding tax to 15%; 5% applies only to certain direct holdings.

• Supervision: Finanstilsynet. Saxo Bank A/S says it is a Danish bank with a banking licence supervised by Finanstilsynet; Danske Bank A/S names the same supervisor. Nordea Danmark is a branch of the Finnish Nordea Bank Abp and, according to Nordea, is supervised by the Finnish supervisor together with the ECB and in Denmark by Finanstilsynet. Nordnet names Finansinspektionen (Sweden) and Finanstilsynet on its Danish page.
• Garantiformuen: at Danish institutions it covers securities up to EUR 20,000 per investor and deposits up to EUR 100,000 per depositor, for private individuals and companies alike.
• Branches: the Danish branches of Nordea, Nordnet Bank AB, Ikano Bank AB and Carnegie Investment Bank AB have joined Garantiformuen as a top-up to the cover of their home country's scheme. Other branches of banks from the EU are covered by their home country's deposit guarantee scheme.

• [Saxo](/en/brokers/saxo-bank): offers an aktiesparekonto, one account per person, deposits up to DKK 174,200, and states that Saxo takes care of all reporting and settlement with SKAT.
• [Nordnet](/en/brokers/nordnet): offers an aktiesparekonto with deposits up to DKK 174,200 (2026) and 17% on the return; according to its own page, Nordnet handles all reporting to Skattestyrelsen.
• [DEGIRO](/en/brokers/degiro): has a Danish website but does not mention an aktiesparekonto there. Whether DEGIRO offers one we could not document.
• Banks we do not compare: Danske Bank offers an aktiesparekonto from which the 17% tax is deducted automatically. Nordea Danmark offers an aktiesparekonto with automatic tax reporting and the DKK 174,200 ceiling.

Whether Saxo and Nordnet also report an ordinary depot to SKAT we have not separately confirmed; their statements appear in the context of the aktiesparekonto.

The directory filtered for Denmark shows which brokers in our comparison accept customers resident in Denmark; for share investors there is the share ranking for Denmark. Supervision, investor protection and tax-advantaged accounts at a glance are on the Denmark market page.

• Whether Denmark levies a tax on securities transactions: we did not retrieve an official source on it.
• Which ETFs count as investeringsselskaber; SKAT's list is what decides.
• Whether DEGIRO offers an aktiesparekonto.
• Whether Saxo and Nordnet also report ordinary depots to SKAT.
• Retirement accounts such as ratepension and aldersopsparing, which we have not researched.

1. 1For every fund, find out whether it is on the list of equity-based investeringsselskaber; the income category and the box depend on it.
2. 2With an aktiesparekonto, expect an annual tax even without selling, and keep within the deposit ceiling.
3. 3With a foreign depot, report purchases in time so that losses stay deductible, and enter gains, dividends and the depot value yourself.
4. 4If your provider is a branch of a foreign bank, ask which protection scheme covers your depot.

• SKAT, Skat af aktier
• SKAT, Aktiesparekonto
• SKAT, Skat af investeringsbeviser udstedt af investeringsforeninger og investeringsselskaber
• SKAT, Beviser og aktier i investeringsforeninger og selskaber (list)
• SKAT, Indberet og betal udbytte og udbytteskat
• Garantiformuen, Hvordan er jeg dækket
• IRS, Tax Treaty Table 1
• Saxo, Aktiesparekonto
• Nordnet, Aktiesparekonto
• DEGIRO, degiro.dk
• Danske Bank, Aktiesparekonto and Priser og vilkår
• Nordea, Aktiesparekonto and Rapportering til Finanstilsynet

This article is for information only and does not constitute investment, legal or tax advice.