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WHAT CHANGES IN DENMARK

KEY POINTS: Everything that changes about life in Denmark in May 2022

The tax return deadline, more public holidays and thousands of runners returning to the streets of Copenhagen are among the things to expect in Denmark in May.

Published: 29 April 2022 16:26 CEST

The Copenhagen Marathon takes place in May 2022 for the first time since 2019, pictured here. Photo: Ólafur Steinar Gestsson/Ritzau Scanpix

Deadline for making changes to tax returns

If you haven’t yet done so, now’s the time to log on to tax website skat.dk and check your annual return or årsopgørelse.

Tax returns are published by tax authorities each March and taxpayers have until May 1st to check their details – relating to earnings, tax payments and deductions – are correct. In some cases, making sure you have the right information on your tax return can mean you get a tax rebate.

The tax authorities have in recent years asked taxpayers to pay particular attention to their commuter deduction or kørselsfradrag information, after the method for entering this on the return became more manual as home working increased during the Covid-19 pandemic. But all information can be checked and updated on the online return up to May 1st.

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Switch to summer tyres (if you haven’t already)

Alternating between winter and summer tyres is not a legal requirement in Denmark, but is broadly recommended, including by FDM, the Danish membership organisation for motorists.

Neighbouring Sweden, Norway and Germany – where many Danish residents head on skiing and other holidays during the colder months – all have rules requiring winter tyres, meanwhile, meaning the practice is common in Denmark, not least for those who may need to take their cars over the border.

Most people switch back to summer tyres at Easter, which this year fell on April 17th. But the week leading up to Easter was cold for the time of year with some frosts in the mornings, so some car owners may have held out a little longer.

More about the practice of using winter and summer tyres in Denmark can be found in this article.

Public holidays

Following on from Easter, we’re still in boom season for public holidays in Denmark.

Great Prayer Day or Store Bededag gives a long weekend starting Friday May 13th, while Ascension Day, Kristi Himmelfartsdag in Danish, is less than two weeks later on Thursday May 26th.

Many Danes take the Friday after Ascension Day as annual leave, giving them a four-day weekend at the cost of only one day of leave.

Look out for extension of border controls

Temporary border controls in place in Denmark since 2016 are currently scheduled to expire on May 11th but will be extended if past practice is basis for prediction.

First introduced in January 2016 in response to the European refugee crisis of late 2015, Denmark’s border controls have remained in place since through regular extensions. The checks generally consist of spot checks at border crossing.

EU countries which are part of the Schengen agreement, like Denmark, are permitted to introduce border controls if these are deemed necessary to protect internal security. The Danish government cited the treat of Islamist terrorism and organised crime in its justification for retaining the controls when they were most recently extended in October.

The controls can be extended for a maximum of six months. As such, they are still considered to be temporary even though they have now been in place for over six years.

Controls at borders undertaken as a measure to prevent the spread of Covid-19 are no longer in place, so all checks are security related.

Return of Copenhagen Marathon

After a three-year absence caused by consecutive cancellations due to Covid-19, the 41st edition of the Copenhagen Marathon takes place on May 15th.

The 42.2-kilometre route through the Danish capital starts and finishes by the harbour at Islands Brygge and takes in each of the central districts: Vesterbro, the Inner City, Østerbro, Frederiksberg and Nørrebro.

There’s usually a great energy along the route. I’d recommend either Nørrebrogade near Dronning Louises Bro (Bridge) or Islands Brygge as the best spots to take in the atmosphere.

New parking rules take effect

Municipal parking rules change on May 1st and it’s worth being aware of these to avoid an unwanted yellow ticket on your windscreen.

The new rules mean that municipalities can now issue fines for cars parked on areas that divide roads with bicycle lanes and pavements (sidewalks). This broadens existing rules against parking on pavements, either completely or partially.

Sometimes the ‘reservation’ or grassy or gravel area between a road and the cycle lane (or pavement) might be wide enough for a car, or part of one, and could be used for parking on. This is no longer permitted, motorists’ organisation FDM writes.

A ticket for breaching the new parking regulations will set you back 510 kroner.

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KEY POINTS: What changes about life in Denmark in July 2024?

Summer holidays begin!

Most schools in Denmark break up for the summer on June 28th, making July 1st the first day of the summer holidays.

Of the five standard weeks or (normally 25 days) of paid vacation covered by the Holiday Act, the “main holiday period” begins on May 1st and ends on September 30th. During this time, three weeks’ consecutive vacation may be taken out of the five weeks.

For those in full or part-time employment who are covered by the Danish Holiday Act (Ferieloven), most will take three weeks off in July, starting on July 1st, July 8th, or July 15th.

Many taking three weeks off in a row, sometimes coinciding with the school holidays (although others break it up).

This is why you may hear Danish colleagues who work full time wishing each other a “good summer holiday” on June 28th as if it’s the end of the school term.

New law making spousal reunion easier

From July 1st, those bringing a foreign spouse to Denmark will have the amount they need to deposit in a bank account accessible by their local municipality halved from 114,000 kroner to 57,000 kroner (both 2024 level), as part of a package of measures on family reunification.

The new lower requirement will require for all residency permit decisions made for foreign spouses after July 1st, and will apply at the time of decision rather than the time of application.

The new law will also change the Danish language requirement for the partner with an existing right to live in Denmark (normally because they are Danish citizens), so that the requirement will be “considered fulfilled” if the resident has spent five years or more in full-time employment or been self-employed in a job that has “significantly involved communication in Danish”.

Finally, the bill will bring in a new opholdsordning or “residence scheme” which will allow returning Danes to bring their families with them based on the same rules which are currently applied to foreign nationals granted work permits in Denmark.

The Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (Styrelsen for International Rekruttering og Integration, SIRI) told The Local that in May that it intended to launch a new application page and application form for returning Danes, with details published on the nyidanmark.dk website at the end of June.

New law on recording working hours

From July 1st, all Danish employers are required to introduce a working hours registration system that makes it possible to measure the daily working hours of each individual employee.

The requirement implements a 2019 judgement of the EU Court, with Denmark’s version built on an agreement reached on June 30th last year between the Confederation of Danish Employers, the Danish Trade Union Confederation, and Denmark’s white collar union, the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations.

Under the new law, workers will only need to register deviations from agreed or scheduled working hours, but will have to open the app or web page if they, say, pop out to the dentist or stay late to finish a presentation.

Under the law, employers are required to keep these records for five years.

Employees empowered to set their own schedule — so called self-organisers — are exempt from the law, but as the law states that such people should be able to reorganise their own working time “in its entirety” and that this power should be enshrined in their contracts. This is only expected to apply to the most senior tier of executives.

End to compulsory bank account work permit rule

Foreign workers who receive a work permit under the “researcher” scheme and four so-called “fast track” schemes will no longer be obliged to open and receive payment in a Danish bank account, ending one of the most irrititating bureaucratic hurdles for foreigners coming to work in Denmark.

The exemption will apply to those granted work permits under the “researcher” scheme and also to the “pay limit”, “education”, “researcher” and “short-term” tracks of the fast-track scheme.

To be eligible for a fast-track permit, foreigners need to hired by a so-called “certified” company, typically a mid-sized and large company that hires internationally quite regularly.

For employees still covered by the bank account requirement, the government has meanwhile extended the time limit for setting up a Danish bank account from 90 days to 180 days.

Update to Positive List

The Positive List is a list of professions for which immigration authorities can issue work permits because Denmark is experiencing a shortage of qualified professionals in those fields.

People who are offered a job included in the Positive List can apply for a Danish residence and work permit based on the Positive List Scheme. An educational background in the relevant field is required.

The Positive List Scheme is one of a number of business schemes used to grant work permits for non-EU and EEA nationals who are unable to move to Denmark under the EU’s right to free movement.

The list is updated twice a year, on January 1st and July 1st.

The updated lists can be viewed on the website of the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI).

Tax declaration deadlines for businesses and self-employed people

If you are a business owner in Denmark you must register your results for 2023 by June 30th, with self-employed people having until July 1st. Find more details on the Tax Agency’s website here.

Custody hearing for Pole who assaulted Danish PM

The custody of the 39-year-old Polish man suspected of punching Frederiksen on June 7th as she walked in central Copenhagen runs out on July 4th, meaning it needs to be extended in a new court hearing.

The man, who was arrested immediately after the incident, has denied responsibility and says he has no recollection of what happened.

New Copenhagen Metro lines open

Officially opened by King Frederik X on June 22nd, five new stations have extended Copenhagen’s M4 Metro line and can now be used by passengers.

The new stations — Havneholmen, Enghave Brygge, Sluseholmen, Mozarts Plads and Copenhagen South — link Copenhagen Central Station to southern suburb Valby.

The new line will allow people to travel from Copenhagen South in Valby to the Rådhuspladsen in central Copenhagen in anout 10 minutes and to get from Copenhagen South to Frederiksberg at the other end of the M4 line in about 17 minutes.

The total metro network now consists of 44 stations spread over 43 kilometres of track.

Vig Festival

The Vig music festival will be held between July 10th and July 13th in the northwestern part of Zealand, with Infernal, Gobs, Zar Paulo, Mads Christian, ISSE, Gabriel Jacobsen, and Rasmus Seebach all on the bill.

Tickets: A one-day ticket costs between 925 kroner and 1,025 kroner depending on the day you attend. Children up to the age of 11 can enter for free, as long as they are accompanied by a paying adult.

A full festival three-day ticket costs between 1,375 kroner and 1,825 kroner, depending how early/late you buy. A full festival family ticket for one adult (18+) plus a child aged 12-15, costs 2,125 kroner.

Copenhagen Jazz Festival (and Aarhus and Aero)

The streets of Copenhagen will hum with the groovy sound of summer jazz as the latest edition of the Copenhagen Jazz Festival begins on July 5th and continues for ten days until July 15th.

The annual festival is unique in that it does not have a specific location, but is played out in parks, on squares and in bars (and, of course, jazz clubs) across the capital. The size of the venues ranges equally from intimate and spontaneous to major concert halls.

Over 1,200 concerts are scheduled to take place across 120 venues and you can check out the programme on the event’s website.

For those of you who really cannot get enough jazz, there’s also the International Jazz Festival in Aarhus from July 13th to july 20th and the Ærø Jazz Festival on one of the idyllic islands south of Funen from July 31st to August 3rd.

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