Double housekeeping deduction when your family lives in Poland

What is the double housekeeping deduction?

If you work temporarily in Denmark while your spouse, partner or children under 18 stay in Poland, you pay for two households. The deduction for double housekeeping, dobbelt husførelse in Danish, covers the extra costs of food and accommodation when living near your workplace.

People who work temporarily in Denmark and keep a home for their family abroad are covered by the same rules as people with two homes in Denmark. Under Danish tax law, however, food and housing are private expenses as a starting point, so the conditions for the deduction are strict.

Which conditions must you meet?

The double housekeeping must be caused by your own work and not, for example, by your children's schooling or other private reasons. The distance between the homes must be so great that you cannot travel back and forth every day. You must be married, cohabiting or a single parent with children under 18, and for cohabiting couples the starting point is that you have lived together for at least 1 year.

The work must be temporary, and this must be agreed or clear from the start of the employment. A permanent position normally does not meet the condition, except during a genuine probation period. In practice the deduction is not granted for more than 2 years unless there are special circumstances.

How much can you deduct?

If you stay in boarding house conditions, private lodgings or similar near your workplace, you can deduct a standard amount of DKK 400 per week without documentation. If you want a higher deduction, you must document your actual extra costs.

Together with any travel deduction (rejsefradrag), the deduction for double housekeeping can be no more than DKK 34,400 in 2026 (DKK 32,800 in 2025). You cannot get the deduction if you also deduct food and accommodation under the travel rules, or if your employer pays a tax-free travel allowance or covers the costs.

You enter the deduction in field 429 of your preliminary income assessment (forskudsopgørelse) and in box 53 of your tax assessment notice (årsopgørelse).

Which documents from Poland will you need?

When your family lives abroad, you must document or show it is likely that you have kept up your relationship and life together with your family, and that you pay costs for the home in Poland. This could be a marriage certificate, your children's birth certificates, proof of registered address and receipts for rent or similar expenses.

Holidays in Poland do not reduce the deduction as long as the stay does not exceed 2 months. If you stay in Poland for longer, the double housekeeping is normally considered interrupted for that period. Also keep your employment contract so you can document that the work is temporary.