Cross-border payments
Payment service providers (PSPs) are obliged to report data on certain cross-border payments.
This obligation took effect on 1 January 2024.
You have to report payment data to CESOP-DK in E-tax (TastSelv). We'll then forward the data to the central CESOP system for use in disclosing VAT fraud in cross-border e-commerce.
Generally, there are 2 types of cross-border payments that payment service providers (PSPs) have to report to CESOP:
- Payments from EU countries to private individuals or businesses in Denmark.
- Payments from Denmark to private individuals or businesses in countries outside the EU.
But such payments should only be reported in case of more than 25 payments each quarter to the same payee. If none of the registered payment service provider's payees receives more than 25 cross-border payments, we recommend that the PSP submits a 'no payment data to report' file.
The information should be reported the month after the end of the quarter, and the first reporting deadline is April 2024.
The EU has prepared guidelines for when PSPs have to submit payment data. Please find the guidelines at the EU site on CESOP (europa.eu).
Find information on how to do your reporting below under 'How to report to CESOP-DK'.
To report payment data to the Danish Customs and Tax Administration, payment service providers have to be registered as subject to the reporting obligation with the Danish business Authority (Erhvervsstyrelsen) at virk.dk.
Register for the reporting obligation at virk.dk
Select 'Start selvbetjening' (Start self-service) and follow the instructions on the online registration form (Currently in Danish).
When you have completed your registration, we'll begin processing it. Generally, your registration certificate will be updated after a couple of days and then you'll have access to report payment data.
You report dato to CESOP-DK in E-tax for businesses (TastSelv Erhverv).
Payment service providers subject to the reporting obligation or other businesses that report on behalf of a party subject to the reporting obligation can also do mass reportings via system-to-system solutions (API) if they are registered with a Danish address.
Please note that the payment service provider must be registered as subject to the reporting obligation before they can submit reporting to the Danish Customs and Tax Administration.
Read more about how you request registration below under 'Get access to do your reporting'.
Reporting guidelines
Here, you find reporting guidelines to various systems and platforms. You also find guidelines on the requirements for the XML files with payment data to be reported.
- Guide on how to generate payment data in XML
- Guide to reporting via user interface (E-tax for businesses)
- Guide to reporting in the test environment via system to system (API)
- Guide to reporting in the production environment via system to system (API)
Find the XSD User Guide that specifies the payment data to be reported at the EU CESOP website (europa.eu).
Guide for non-Danish PSPs (Payment Service Providers) who meet the 3 requirements below:
- You offer cross-border payment services to customers living in Denmark.
- You are subject to the CESOP rules and have to report certain information to the Danish Customs and Tax Administration (Skatteforvaltningen).
- You are not registered with the Danish Business Authority (Erhvervsstyrelsen) (you have no SE/VAT no./business number issued by the Danish authorities). Please note that registering with the Danish Business Authority is not the same as the EU rules on free movement of capital.
To report cross-border payment data to the Danish Customs and Tax Administration and to meet possible security issues, relevant businesses need to register with a so-called administrative SE no. and to be informed that they have to report certain cross-border payment data to Denmark.
You may authorize a third party to report data. Please read more about the possibility here.
You complete form 40.112 to register with an administrative SE no. Find the form and read more at the Business Authority’s website. Once you have completed form 40.112, you send it to: virksomhed@erst.dk.
You don't have to complete sections 4 and 16, if you don't have a contact person in Denmark.
If your company is a private limited company, you state the company name in section 5.
Please make sure to write CESOP in section 14.
When the Business Authority has received your request for an administrative SE no. and information that you need to report certain cross-border payment data to Denmark, the request will be forwarded to the Danish tax authorities.
Next, you will receive a registration certificate stating that the business is now registered in Denmark in order to report certain cross-border payment data to the Danish Customs and Tax Administration.
A few days later, you will receive an E-tax password to log on to the Danish self-service reporting system, E-tax.
This is how you log on:
The new schema version XSD 4.03 was implemented on 25 March 2025.
This means that cross-border payment data relating to the 1st quarter 2025 must be reported in the new version from 25 March 2025. Please note that corrections relating to earlier quarters have to be made in the new version.
Download the new schema (europa.eu)
If your reporting was rejected partially or in full at validation, you have to submit your corrected reporting no later than 2 weeks after the reporting deadline for the quarter.
If the reporting relates to an earlier quarter, the reporting deadline is 2 weeks from the date the reporting was rejected partially or full.
Please email us at CESOPDK@sktst.dk if you have any questions.
The EU has passed the new rules on reporting of cross-border payments and the rules were implemented in the Danish VAT legislation and took effect on 1 January 2024.
If the obligation to report is disregarded, it may result in daily fines, see Section 8 d of the Danish VAT Act.
You can see the changes in the Danish VAT Act and the EU directive and regulations below:
- Danish Act on amended VAT Act no. 755 of 13 June 2023.
- EU Directive 2020/284
- EU Regulations 2020/283
Other useful links
- The EU’s information site where you can read more about the CESOP project, find reporting guidelines in all EU languages and relevant links about the project.
- CESOP public group on CIRCABC is a free public forum for all. You can find various information, including when individual member states will transfer to the new XML version.
- Danish Amended VAT Act - Act no. 755 of 13 June 2023.
- Council Directive (EU) 2020/284 of 18 February 2020 amending Directive 2006/112/EC as regards introducing certain requirements for payment service providers.
- Council Regulation (EU) 2020/283 of 18 February 2020 amending Regulation (EU) no. 904/2010 on measures to strengthen the administrative cooperation to combat VAT fraud.
- EU directives and regulations in general (EU website).
CESOP is the abbreviation for Central Electronic System of Payment Information and it's a system solution that compiles all reporting from member states in a central database.
The data provided by the member states is used for combatting fraud, preparing analyses, etc.
There are 2 types of payment data to report. These are:
- Payments from EU countries to private individuals or businesses in Denmark.
- Payments from Denmark to private individuals or businesses in countries outside the EU.
Read more under ‘Types of payments included’
You have to report the payment data when there are 25 or more cross-border payments per quarter to the same payee in either Denmark or countries outside the EU. Please note that if payments have been made to payees in other EU countries, such payments will be reported by the relevant EU country.
You can read more in CESOP - Guidelines for reporting of payment data at the EU's CESOP website.
Yes, you can test the system as soon as your business is registered for the reporting obligation. You find a guide to the test environment under 'How you report to CESOP-DK'.
You report relevant data to CESOP-DK in E-tax for businesses (TastSelv Erhverv) as when you report VAT or payroll tax.
Payment service providers subject to the reporting obligation or other businesses that report on behalf of a party subject to the reporting obligation can also mass report data via system-to-system solutions (API) if they are registered with a Danish address.
Read more under 'How you report data to CESOP-DK'
You have to be registered with for reporting obligation with the Danish Business Authority (Erhvervsstyrelsen) before you can report payment data to the Danish Customs and Tax Administration.
You report payment data the month after the relevant quarter and that means April, July, October and January.
You can correct or change reported data for past quarters at any time.
Our solution accepts XML files of maximum 1 GB, but preferably a little smaller than that.
No, CESOP-DK can't accept compressed files.
Check out the EU site on CESOP (europa.eu) and under Technical files you find the EU's XSD and XSD User Guide where you can read more about the various error codes.
In CESOP-DK you can see a list of reported files and their status. There, you can see delivery receipts and the result of 'Nartional validation' and the 'CESOP validation'.
Under each receipt you can see the response to the validations. If the CESOP validation found no mistakes and the status of the file says accepted, the file is sent and accepted in CESOP-EU.
In the CESOP-DK solution you can see from the list of reported files if they have been accepted or not.
If the file was not accepted, the reason will be stated on the receipt which you can access from the list of reported files. The receipt will show you the response to the national validation and the CESOP validation. The file will not be validated in CESOP-EU before the national validation is in place.
Depending on whether the file was rejected in full or partially, the file must be changed in different ways. Read more about how you make changes in the XSD User Guide at the EU website (europe.eu).
You can change the name, address, ownership and other data that is registered about the business. The way you do it depends on whether you have a CVR no. (business registration number) or an SE no. (VAT number).
If you have a CVR no.
Log on to Virk.dk > Select 'Ændre virksomhed' (Change business) and make the changes i CRV.
If you have an SE no.
You can use the form for making changes at virk.dk to report changes to the information you have registered about the business. Please note that the form is only in Danish.
You can also email your changes to the Danish Business Authority (Erhvervsstyrelsen) at virksomhed@erst.dk.
Our operating records will show operating information if we experience problems or have other relevant operating data to share. If you want to be notified automatically of operating data, you can sign up for the RRS feed at the site.
Operating records for Cross-border payment data (CESOP) (link in Danish)
You can read more at the EU’s information site on the CESOP project..
If you don't find answers to your questions on this page, or via the EU guidelines, you can write to us at: CESOPDK@sktst.dk
For further legal information in Danish see our legal guide .