Denmark VAT return (moms) — 2026 operational method

Status: Source-cited draft by the OpenAccountants team. It is not accountant-authored, accountant-verified or an attestation. Figures and procedures were retrieved from the Danish Tax Agency (Skattestyrelsen/SKAT) on 24 and 25 September 2026.

This method prepares an ordinary Danish VAT return for a registered business for tax year 2026. It covers filing periods and deadlines, domestic 25% sales, supported input VAT including the statutory limits on restaurant, hotel, gift and vehicle VAT, ordinary EU/foreign purchase routing, imports, EU reporting records, filing, payment and correction. It does not decide exemptions, VAT groups, OSS/IOSS, margin schemes, property, capital-goods adjustments or a partial-deduction rate.

Key figures and return routes

Figure or route	Use	Official source
DKK 50,000 per calendar year	A Danish-established business must register when taxable sales are more than this in a calendar year; the small-business exemption also depends on the preceding calendar year. A foreign business is treated differently (see step 1).	VAT registration and foreign businesses (Juridisk vejledning D.A.14.1.5)
25%	General Danish VAT rate; use it for the domestic taxable-sale examples below. The EU-purchase route separately directs a registered purchaser to calculate Danish VAT.	Get started on VAT and EU purchases
Filing period	Half-yearly if taxable turnover is under DKK 5 million a year and you filed and paid on time; quarterly if newly registered, on request, or where SKAT finds turnover of DKK 5-50 million; monthly where SKAT finds turnover over DKK 50 million, or on request.	VAT deadlines
DKK 1,400 per period	Late-filing charge: if a return is not filed by the deadline, SKAT makes a provisional assessment, charges DKK 1,400 for each late period and adds interest.	VAT deadlines
Restaurant 25%; hotel room 100%	Input-VAT limits: only 25% of the VAT on strictly business restaurant meals is deductible; hotel overnight stays are 100% deductible when the invoice separates the room from restaurant items.	Food and hotel deductions
Cars and motorbikes	No deduction on purchase, on rent or lease under 6 months, or on running costs; limited deduction on rent or lease over 6 months where at least 10% of use is VAT-liable business.	Vehicle deductions
Input VAT / output VAT	Reconcile totals from the business accounts; refund results only where input exceeds output.	VAT accounts
Box A goods / A services; B goods / B services; C	International-trade value records: EU purchases; EU sales; exports and other untaxed supplies.	VAT accounts
4 pm filing-day cut-off	Select the official before/after 4 pm correction branch for the filing day; use the prior-period correction route for later changes.	Correct a VAT return

Amounts in the cases are hypothetical arithmetic, not authority figures. Prepare the return in DKK. Where an invoice is in another currency, retain the documented conversion basis and confirm the applicable exchange-rate treatment with SKAT's guidance before entering it; this Guide does not state a conversion rule. Do not use a bank debit as the VAT base.

Ask the client first

• CVR/VAT number, registration date, whether the business is established in Denmark, current assigned period (half-yearly, quarterly or monthly) and prior filed return/receipt.
• Sales and purchase ledgers, invoices and credit notes for the period; do not classify from a bank payee alone.
• Customer/supplier VAT number, country, goods movement or service facts, and invoice treatment for every international item.
• Customs/import records, business-use and invoice evidence for claimed input VAT.
• For every restaurant, hotel, staff-food, gift and vehicle cost: the invoice, the business purpose, who attended or received it, and for vehicles the plate colour (white or yellow), the weight, and whether it is bought, rented or leased and for how long.
• Whether a return has been filed, corrected, assessed or is a negative return still being processed.

The method, step by step

1. Confirm registration, period and deadline. A Danish-established business registers through Virk when taxable sales are more than DKK 50,000 in a calendar year. A foreign business without a fixed place of business in Denmark that makes taxable sales here must register, and the threshold does not help it unless it is established in another EU country and uses the special scheme for small businesses in Denmark; reverse charge or the One Stop Shop can also remove the duty. Refer every foreign business. VAT registration and foreign businesses (Juridisk vejledning D.A.14.1.5). Once registered, file every assigned period in TastSelv Erhverv, including a zero declaration where there were no relevant sales. Do not treat a zero declaration as a classification for zero-rated sales. Use the period SKAT has assigned: half-yearly if taxable turnover is under DKK 5 million a year and you have filed and paid on time; quarterly if the business is newly registered, has asked for it, or SKAT has found turnover of DKK 5-50 million; monthly if SKAT has found turnover over DKK 50 million, or on request. Filing and payment deadlines in 2026: half-yearly, 1st half 2026 by 1 September 2026 and 2nd half 2026 by 1 March 2027; quarterly, Q4 2025 by 2 March 2026, Q1 2026 by 1 June 2026, Q2 2026 by 1 September 2026, Q3 2026 by 1 December 2026 and Q4 2026 by 1 March 2027. Monthly filers take each date from SKAT's monthly table: most fall on or just after the 25th of the following month, but some are moved (June 2026 is due 17 August 2026). If a return is late, SKAT makes a provisional assessment and charges DKK 1,400 for each period not filed on time, plus interest. VAT deadlines
2. Build the evidence schedule. Use invoice dates for the reporting period even when unpaid. The exception is a prepayment without an invoice: there, VAT arises at the time of payment. Period rule Record invoice date, legal counterparty, VAT number, goods/services, origin/destination, VAT-exclusive base, VAT shown, rate/route, business purpose, customs evidence and document ID. Reconcile sales/purchases to the ledger before entering a return.
3. Calculate domestic VAT and the deductible input VAT. For a confirmed ordinary domestic taxable sale, calculate output VAT = VAT-exclusive sale × 25 ÷ 100. Total output VAT and supported input VAT from the period accounts. Claim input VAT only where both business and seller are VAT registered and an invoice documents a resale or business-running purchase. Test private, mixed and exempt use separately. Get started on VAT and VAT deductions Then apply the statutory limits before entering Købsmoms (indgående moms). They apply even when the cost is wholly for the VAT-liable business:
   • Restaurant meals: no deduction for restaurant services, except 25% of the VAT where the cost is strictly business, for example an employee's business travel, congresses and conferences, staff meetings held at a restaurant, or a restaurant meal with customers or other business contacts. If any part of the meal is private, nothing is deductible; you cannot split it into a business part and a private part. Juridisk vejledning D.A.11.5.7.2 and food and hotel deductions
   • Hotels: the overnight stay is 100% deductible and restaurant items such as breakfast are 25%, but only if the hotel invoice shows the two separately. If the stay includes a social event, estimate and exclude the social part. Food and hotel deductions
   • Staff food and parties: food and drink for employees is generally not deductible, except for unannounced overtime. A staff party or Christmas lunch at a restaurant gets 25% of the VAT; the food at a staff party in your own or rented premises gets none. Food, cake and drinks for meetings in your own premises (with business contacts, board meetings, internal meetings with professional content, internal courses) are 100% deductible under SKAT's guidance. Purchases relating to entertainment are not deductible. Food and hotel deductions
   • Gifts and representation: no deduction for VAT on gifts, including gifts to staff, or on entertainment and representation. Product samples and ordinary advertising articles stay fully deductible. Juridisk vejledning D.A.11.5.7 and D.A.11.5.7.4
   • Vehicles: no deduction for vehicles on white plates. For a car or motorbike there is no deduction on purchase, none on rent or lease of less than 6 months, and none on running costs such as petrol or repairs (the Øresund bridge toll is the one exception). A rent or lease of more than 6 months gives a limited deduction only if at least 10% of the driving relates to VAT-liable activity, and the deductible amount is the one stated on the rental company's invoice. Vans and trucks on yellow or "parrot" plates can qualify for deduction depending on taxable, exempt and private use; refer mixed or private use. Insurance and fines are not deductible. Vehicle deductions
   • If a food, hospitality, gift or vehicle cost does not fit one of these rules, or its purpose or attendees are undocumented, do not claim it; refer it.
4. Route international purchases separately. A registered business calculates Danish VAT on goods/services bought in other EU countries. Report the purchase value in A goods for EU goods or A services for EU services, and report goods VAT in Moms af varekøb i udlandet and services VAT in Moms af ydelseskøb i udlandet med omvendt betalingspligt; ordinary fully deductible input VAT can normally be deducted at the same time. If the EU seller charged its own country's VAT, still calculate 25% Danish VAT on the invoice amount, do not enter the foreign VAT as Købsmoms, and ask the seller to repay it. The same source says an unregistered business has an EU-goods exception below DKK 80,000 annually but foreign services usually remain taxable regardless of amount. Do not use this method for the listed place-of-supply exclusions: property services outside Denmark (including hotel stays in other EU countries), passenger transport, tickets to cultural, sports, training and similar events, restaurant and catering services, and short-term hire of transport. The same applies to the second list of services used mainly outside the EU (for example rights, advertising, consultancy, banking, financing and insurance, and hire of staff or movable goods). EU purchases
5. Handle imports and sales records. For non-EU goods, confirm importer registration and obtain the customs declaration/import statement. Reconcile import VAT to the documented customs value plus customs duty, other import charges and transport/insurance to the known EU destination; avoid counting costs already included twice. Put import VAT in Moms af varekøb i udlandet, and only the deductible portion in Købsmoms (indgående moms). Non-EU goods do not enter A goods. For qualifying non-EU business services, calculate Danish VAT under the supported place-of-supply route, put it in Moms af ydelseskøb i udlandet med omvendt betalingspligt, and separately test input deduction; non-EU services do not enter A services. Refer excluded services before calculation. Non-EU purchases and special VAT accounts/import base. For EU sales without Danish VAT, keep verified buyer VAT number and dispatch/transport evidence. Use the B goods box marked for EU-salg uden moms for ordinary qualifying EU goods sales and B services for qualifying reverse-charge services; also report those sales by buyer VAT number in EU-salg uden moms and make sure the value is the same in both places. A separate B goods box covers supplies excluded from that listing, such as specified installation sales; do not mix the two. C is for other qualifying supplies without Danish VAT, including exports. Zero-VAT sales to businesses in other EU countries of services connected with property there (for example construction work), passenger transport there, restaurant and catering services performed there, and short-term hire of transport made available there go in C, not B services. File EU-salg uden moms monthly, by the 25th of the following month, whatever your VAT return period; quarterly listing (for example Q1 2026 by 25 April 2026) is allowed only if you have applied for it in TastSelv Erhverv. File the listing only for periods with such sales; no zero listing is required. Exact return fields and dual reporting, EU-salg deadlines, VAT accounts and EU documentation
6. Reconcile, file and pay. Tie output VAT to sales schedules, input VAT to invoice-level support after the step 3 limits, foreign-purchase VAT to the EU A schedules and separate non-EU import/service schedules, B/C to cross-border evidence and the net result to the VAT control account. For the ordinary scope here, calculate net VAT = domestic output VAT + VAT on foreign goods purchases + reverse-charge VAT on foreign services − deductible input VAT. Positive net VAT is payable; negative net VAT is a refund claim, subject to processing. Do not count foreign-purchase VAT twice as domestic output VAT. File in TastSelv Erhverv. The digital receipt states whether VAT is payable or refundable; the filing and payment deadline are the same. SKAT recommends paying no sooner than 5 working days before the deadline, because an earlier payment may be used to cover other debt to public authorities. A refund is normally paid to the business NemKonto no later than 21 days after the return is filed. Pay VAT
7. Correct the affected period. Open the affected period in TastSelv Erhverv and follow the official correction branch for before 4 pm on the day filed or after 4 pm. Enter the corrected period amounts following that branch, then retain the acknowledgement and reconcile the changed liability. Correct the period the error belongs to; do not place the difference in an unrelated period. A change more than 3 years after the return was due is allowed only under the stated exceptional conditions and by a written application through TastSelv Erhverv (Contact, then Write to us), stating the reason, the documentation, the VAT to change and the correct amount. A forgotten deduction, a misunderstood rule or a wrong entry does not itself qualify. Correction guidance

Worked checks

Case	Facts and arithmetic	Result
Domestic sale	Hypothetical Danish taxable sale DKK 100,000 excluding VAT. General rate	Output VAT DKK 25,000 (100,000 × 25 ÷ 100).
Supported business purchase	Hypothetical domestic business purchase has DKK 10,000 VAT, valid invoice and wholly taxable use. Input VAT conditions	Put DKK 10,000 in input VAT; do not infer it from bank payment alone.
EU service purchase	Registered business buys a qualifying EU business service for DKK 20,000, 25%, wholly taxable use. EU purchase route	Record A services DKK 20,000, self-assess DKK 5,000 VAT and test the same DKK 5,000 for input deduction.
EU goods sale	Seller has buyer VAT number and evidence goods left Denmark for another EU state. EU documentation	Record the supported value in B goods; do not substitute an unverified foreign customer.
Correction	Filed return omitted a DKK 10,000 domestic 25% sale. General rate and correction route	Correct the affected period; omitted output VAT is DKK 2,500 (10,000 × 25 ÷ 100).
Restaurant meal	Hypothetical restaurant bill on an employee's business trip, strictly business; the invoice shows DKK 400 VAT. Food and hotel deductions	Input VAT DKK 100 (400 × 25 ÷ 100), not DKK 400. If part of the meal was private, nothing is deductible.
Hotel stay	Hypothetical hotel invoice shows room VAT DKK 300 and breakfast VAT DKK 40 separately. Food and hotel deductions	Input VAT DKK 310 = room DKK 300 + breakfast DKK 10 (40 × 25 ÷ 100).
Passenger car	Hypothetical purchase of a white-plate passenger car with DKK 60,000 VAT on the invoice. Vehicle deductions	No input VAT: there is no deduction on buying a car.

Complete ordinary return example

Assume the domestic sale and supported input invoice above, the EU service purchase above, and a non-EU import whose customs statement confirms DKK 2,500 import VAT. All purchases are used wholly for deductible taxable activity, and none is a restaurant, hotel, gift or vehicle cost. Accounts, EU purchases and non-EU reporting support the routes.

• Domestic output VAT: DKK 25,000.
• Foreign-goods VAT field: DKK 2,500 import VAT; A goods is zero because this example has no EU goods purchases.
• Foreign-services VAT field: DKK 5,000; A services DKK 20,000.
• Input VAT: DKK 17,500 = DKK 10,000 domestic + DKK 5,000 EU service + DKK 2,500 import. Deduction conditions.
• Net payable: DKK 15,000 = DKK 25,000 + DKK 2,500 + DKK 5,000 − DKK 17,500. No B/C sales occur in this example. Foreign VAT added to payable and deductible input.

Retain the return receipt, control-account reconciliation and invoice/customs schedule together. If an input deduction fails, change the input total; never delete the corresponding acquisition/import liability merely to make the return balance.

When to refuse or refer

• Missing registration, invoice, customs, buyer-VAT-number or EU transport evidence; retain the records and identify the exact unresolved route.
• Exemption, place-of-supply uncertainty, partial deduction, restaurant/hospitality, gift or vehicle VAT outside the step 3 rules, VAT group, property, margin scheme, capital-goods adjustment, OSS/IOSS, a foreign business or non-established supplier position, or a car-rental or driving-school business (special rules apply).
• A negative or authority-corrected return outside the self-service route.

Official sources: SKAT VAT hub, Get started on VAT, VAT registration, VAT deadlines, EU purchases, VAT deductions, food and hotel deductions, vehicle deductions, VAT accounts, EU documentation, pay VAT, correction guidance.