Restskat in Denmark: causes, payment and prevention
Why you may have outstanding tax, what it costs to wait before paying, and how a corrected preliminary income assessment prevents it.
Why do you have restskat?
Restskat, or outstanding tax, means that too little tax was paid during the year. It happens when your preliminary income assessment (forskudsopgørelse) did not match your actual income and deductions. You can find the cause by comparing the preliminary income assessment with your tax assessment notice (årsopgørelse).
Typical causes are that your primary tax card (hovedkort) was used by two employers in the same period, that you received holiday pay (feriepenge) when changing jobs, or that the transport deduction in your preliminary assessment was higher than you were entitled to. The employment allowance (beskæftigelsesfradrag) may also be lower than expected if you were out of work or earned less. Income from Poland that was not included in your preliminary assessment can also lead to outstanding tax.
What does it cost to wait before paying?
For outstanding tax for 2025, the following applied. If you paid between 1 January and 1 July 2026, you were charged daily interest at an annual rate of 3.7 percent, and if you had not paid by 1 July 2026, an interest surcharge of 5.7 percent was calculated instead. The rates are set for each income year.
Outstanding tax of up to DKK 25,368 that was not paid by 1 July 2026 is added to your tax for 2027. This means lower net pay every month in 2027. The part of the outstanding tax above DKK 25,368 was collected in three instalments in August, September and October 2026.
How do you pay restskat?
You pay in TastSelv under Betal skat (pay tax). There you can calculate the interest and pay all or part of the amount by Dankort, MobilePay linked to a Dankort, or with a payment ID in your online banking. The payment is registered 2–3 working days after you pay.
If you pay from a bank outside Denmark, use the account details the Danish Tax Agency provides for payments from abroad. Remember to state your CPR number and the year the payment relates to.
How can you avoid restskat next year?
The best prevention is a preliminary income assessment that matches reality. Update it when you change jobs, your pay changes, you start working from home or you move. Also check in TastSelv which employer uses your primary tax card and which uses your secondary tax card (bikort).
Income or expenses in Poland that affect your Danish tax should also be included in your preliminary income assessment. The earlier in the year you correct the figures, the more evenly the tax is spread over the remaining months.
Sources: Danish Tax Agency: Pay outstanding tax for 2025 · Danish Tax Agency: Pay your outstanding tax by 1 July (in Danish) · Danish Tax Agency: Payments, including from abroad