What is A-tax?
The money you pay to the Danish Tax Agency when you actively participate in the labour market is called A-tax. In the same way, you pay A-tax if you receive money from the state in the form of SU, pension or other. The amount of tax we each pay is individual, as our income is of different sizes.
The Danish tax system is designed so that the more money you earn, the more tax you have to pay. This means that you will typically pay more A-tax if you have a high income than if you do not earn very much money.
However, not all the money we earn is subject to tax. We all have a
personal allowance , which is equal to tax-free earnings. In 2025, the personal allowance for people over 18 years of age is DKK 49,700, while the allowance for people under 18 years of age is DKK 51,600. This means that you can earn DKK 49,700, which you do not have to pay A-tax on if you are over 18 years of age.
Who pays A-tax?
All Danish citizens who have income in the form of wages or transfer benefits such as
unemployment benefits , SU or pension must pay A-tax. However, if the income you have is less than your personal allowance, you do not have to.
You must pay A-tax on your primary income, after deductions and other things have been deducted. In the next section you can see what you must pay A-tax on.
What do you have to pay A-tax on?
You must pay from your primary income, also called your A-income. It consists of:
How do you pay A-tax?
If you have an employer, he or she is the one who reports your A-income to
the Danish Tax Agency . The same applies if you receive money from the state as a pension or SU.
This happens automatically, and you only need to do something if you have additional income that is subject to tax, such as interest income,
capital income , etc. You report this manually on your
tax return .
Read more about accounting for A-tax in Dinero
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