Import VAT and Duty in Denmark
VAT Rates
The standard VAT rate in Denmark is 25% (moms). Denmark applies no general reduced vat rate for goods; 0% applies to newspapers and a narrow set of items.
Import VAT and customs duty in Denmark are administered by Toldstyrelsen (Danish Customs Agency).
The rate applying on import is the rate that applies to a supply of the same or similar goods on the Denmark domestic market, which is why correct commodity classification matters at the classification stage and not only at invoicing.
The Taxable Amount
Import VAT is calculated on the Customs value on a CIF basis, plus customs duty. Freight and insurance to the point of entry into the EU are included in the customs value, so a shipment budgeted on goods value alone will understate the VAT payable.
Customs Duty
EU Common Customs Tariff applied through TARIC; rates vary by commodity code, commonly from 0% up to 25% or more for sensitive lines. Duty is set by the commodity code and origin at the date the declaration is accepted — there is no single national rate that applies across a consignment.
Low-Value Consignments
The EUR 22 import VAT exemption was abolished EU-wide on 1 July 2021. There is no value below which a commercial import escapes VAT. The EUR 150 threshold relieves customs duty only. From 1 July 2026 a temporary flat duty of EUR 3 per item category applies to consignments at or below EUR 150, running until 1 July 2028.
Postponed Accounting
Denmark has offered postponed import VAT accounting since 2022, letting VAT-registered importers account for import VAT through the VAT return instead of paying at the frontier. It is a cash-flow mechanism, not an exemption, and it does not apply to customs duty.
Planning Duty and VAT for Denmark
Most China-origin containers bound for Denmark call at Aarhus, frequently with a transhipment at a North European hub such as Rotterdam, Hamburg or Bremerhaven before the final leg into the Kattegat. That hub connection is the single largest variable in Danish transit planning: a direct deep-sea call and a transhipped routing can differ by well over a week on the same trade lane.
That routing, and the country-specific points below, are what turn a generic EU calculation into a Denmark one. They belong in the landed-cost model from the outset rather than being discovered at clearance:
- Danish import VAT at 25% applies to almost all goods because Denmark has no general reduced rate for goods
- Postponed import VAT accounting has been available since 2022 and is a cash-flow mechanism, not an exemption
- ISPM 15 treatment and marking for all wood packaging, including pallets, crates and dunnage
Frequently Asked Questions
The standard rate is 25% (moms). Denmark applies no general reduced vat rate for goods; 0% applies to newspapers and a narrow set of items.
The taxable amount is the Customs value on a CIF basis, plus customs duty. Freight and insurance to the point of entry into the EU form part of the customs value, so under-declaring freight understates the VAT.
No. The EUR 22 import VAT exemption was abolished EU-wide on 1 July 2021. The EUR 150 threshold that remains relieves customs duty only — it has never been a VAT threshold.
From 1 July 2026 a temporary flat duty of EUR 3 applies per declared item category on consignments valued at EUR 150 or less. It is charged on the declarant, not the consumer, and runs until 1 July 2028.
No. Postponed VAT accounting changes when and how import VAT is accounted for, not whether it is due. The VAT remains payable; it is declared through the VAT return rather than paid at the frontier.