Polish pension when you live in Denmark

Do you pay Danish tax on a Polish pension?

If you live in Denmark and are fully liable to tax here, you generally pay Danish tax on pensions from abroad, including from Poland. Which country has the right to tax depends on the double tax treaty between Denmark and Poland of 6 December 2001 and on the type of pension.

Foreign pensions are not included automatically in your Danish tax assessment notice (årsopgørelse). You must report them yourself in TastSelv as non-Danish income.

How is a ZUS pension taxed?

A ZUS emerytura is paid under Polish social security legislation. Under Article 17(1) of the treaty, payments under one country's social security legislation may be taxed in the country that pays them. Poland can therefore tax your ZUS pension even though you live in Denmark.

Denmark also taxes the pension because you live here, but gives a credit against Danish tax for the tax you have paid in Poland. The credit cannot exceed the Danish tax attributable to the pension.

ZUS pays pensions abroad either gross or after deducting Polish advance tax, depending on the treaty with your country of residence. Keep the annual information from ZUS on the pension paid and the tax withheld.

What about private pensions and pensions from Polish public service?

For other pensions, the main rule in Article 17(2) is that they are taxed only in the country where you live. Poland may also tax such a pension, however, if your own contributions were deducted from your taxable income in Poland, or if your employer's contributions were not taxable income for you in Poland. Denmark then gives a credit for the Polish tax.

Pensions for past work for the Polish state, a region or a municipality follow Article 18. They are generally taxed only in Poland, unless you both live in Denmark and are a Danish national. Denmark may, however, include the pension when calculating tax on your other income, but then reduces the tax by the part attributable to the pension.

If you have private pension savings with a Polish bank or insurance company, you may in some cases also have to pay Danish tax on the annual return. A positive return is taxed as capital income.

How do you report the pension in Denmark?

You report the pension in TastSelv as non-Danish income, converted into Danish kroner and before deduction of Polish tax. You report tax paid in Poland separately and must be able to document it.

If Poland has withheld tax it is not entitled to under the treaty, it will generally not be credited in Denmark and must instead be reclaimed in Poland. Questions about Polish tax and ZUS withholding can be put to Krajowa Informacja Skarbowa, the Polish National Tax Information service.