Your income and tax at retirement/early retirement
There can be a lot to keep track of when you are about to enter life as a pensioner or early retiree. One important thing is your income and tax. It's important that you update your preliminary income assessment (forskudsopgørelse) in the first month after you retired or started receiving early retirement benefits.
We use the figures to make sure you're not paying too much or too little tax. Udbetaling Danmark uses the same figures to calculate your pension.
By keeping your preliminary income assessment up to date and looking ahead to the coming year, you avoid receiving too much pension, which you may have to pay back later.
You must check that your preliminary income assessment is correct both at the time you retire or start receiving early retirement benefits and again at the end of November the following year (when you can access your preliminary income assessment for the coming year).
If your spouse or partner receives a social pension, such as the state pension, you should update your preliminary income assessment on the day you retire – not before. This gives the most accurate calculation of both your pensions.
Change your preliminary income assessment
Use the correct tax card
If you receive pension and salary income from several providers, you must make sure that only one of them uses your primary tax card (for example Udbetaling Danmark or your pension provider). You must inform each provider whether they should use your main tax card or your secondary tax card.
You should update your preliminary income assessment when you stop working, so you pay the correct tax. Don't update your assessment until the day you retire or start receiving early retirement benefits.
It's particularly important that you wait until the day you retire, if your spouse or partner receives a social pension. Doing it this way, you ensure the most accurate calculation of both your pension and your spouse’s or partner’s social pension.
If your income changes during the year, you just update your preliminary income assessment again.
How to do it:
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Log on to your Preliminary income assessment in E-tax (TastSelv)
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Select På pension/efterløn (Pensioner/retiree) under Oftest tilføjede felter (Most commonly added fields) in your preliminary income assessment. There, you enter the pension or early retirement benefits you expect to receive in 2026.
You will need one or more of these fields:-
Social pension (field 305) – state pension, old-age pension, disability pension, senior pension and early pension from the public sector
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Statslige pensioner, der udbetales af Udbetaling Danmark (field 309) (State pensions paid by Udbetaling Danmark (field 309))
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Efterløn (field 315) (Early retirement benefits (field 315))
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Andre pensioner mv. (felt 317) (Other pensions etc. (field 317) – regular payments from private pension schemes and from pension schemes set up through employment.Payments from instalment pension schemes.
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Go to field 201 Lønindkomst mv. (Earned income etc.)
Check and update your expected salary income. The amount must be before tax and before labour market contribution. -
Select Godkend (Accept).
If you have trouble logging on or have questions, you are welcome to call us on the number shown on this page.
Remember to check and update your preliminary income assessment again the year after you retire or start receiving early retirement benefits (around the end of November).
When you update your preliminary income assessment, a new pension calculation is generated. Each time you make changes, Udbetaling Danmark automatically recalculates your pension. You will be informed if the changes mean that your state pension will increase or decrease.
On borger.dk, you can read about the deadlines for updating your preliminary income assessment during the year, so the changes can be registered before your next state pension payment.
If you have non-Danish income or income from running a business while receiving the state pension, you need to inform Udbetaling Danmark directly.
Read more in Danish about how to report changes to your state pension in different situations (borger.dk).
When you stop working, you're no longer entitled to a transport deduction.
If you have previously claimed a deduction for transport between home and work, remember to delete it in field 417 in your preliminary income assessment, effective from the day you stop working.
If you continue working alongside your pension or early retirement benefits, remember to update the transport deduction in field 417 so it matches the number of days you expect to commute each month (if you travel more than 12 km each way). Click the calculator next to the field.
Transport deduction in the tax assessment notice
Please note that you must also enter your deduction for transport between home and work in your tax assessment notice (box 51), even if you have already entered it in your preliminary income assessment.
In the tax assessment notice, you must calculate the transport deduction based on the number of days you actually commuted to and from work during the year.
You must check whether you still contribute to an unemployment fund, early retirement scheme or flexi-job scheme. You're entitled to the deduction for these contributions until you stop contributing.
If you stop your contributions, you no longer qualify for the deduction. Enter your contributions paid up to the cut-off date in field 439.
If you continue to contribute but with a reduced amount, you need to update the field with the new amount instead. Enter your contributions to the early retirement scheme and the flexi-job scheme in field 439.
If you pay trade union fees after you retire, receive disability pension or receive early retirement benefits, you must check whether you still qualify for a deduction:
- If you receive early retirement benefits, you are still entitled to a deduction for your trade union fees as long as you continue to pay them.
If you stop paying the fees, enter the amount paid up to the cut-off date in field 458 in your preliminary income assessment.
If you pay a lower fee (for example, a pensioner rate), check that the new fee is shown in your preliminary income assessment. - If you receive the state pension or disability pension, you are no longer entitled to a deduction for trade union fees. However, retired civil servants may in some cases deduct the fee — contact your union if needed.
Remember to delete the deduction from your preliminary income assessment in field 458 if you're no longer entitled to it — even if you still pay trade union fees.
If you contribute to your private pension scheme with an amount that's different than that stated in your preliminary income assessment, you should update your assessment. Remember that you should also update your preliminary income assessment for the following year.
How to update your preliminary income assessment
Private annuity pension schemes and temporary old-age pension schemes
Enter the amount in field 416. You find the field under Oftest tilføjede felter (Most frequently added fields) ’Indbetaling til ratepension’ (Annuity pension contributions)
Private life-long old-age pension schemes
Enter the amount in field 436. You find field 436 under Fradrag (Deductions) -> Fradrag i personlig indkomst (Deductions from personal income) -> Bidrag og præmier til andre pensionsordninger herunder til privattegnede livsvarige pensionsordninger (field 436) (Contributions and premiums to other pension schemes including private lifelong old-age pension schemes) field 436.
This includes:
- Beginning payments from private pension schemes, such as annuity pension schemes
- Profit from a business or rental property
- Fees (B-income)
- Income from shares and dividends
You also need to update your preliminary income assessment if your interest income or interest expenses change.
To make sure you pay the right tax, not too much or too little, and to make sure you receive the correct state pension, you must keep your preliminary income assessment up to date — especially when your income or financial situation changes.
You should also remind your spouse or partner to update his/her preliminary income assessment when you retire.
You risk receiving too much state pension — which you may have to pay back — if you or your spouse/partner have had capital income (for example interest income or dividend from shares) that you have not entered in the preliminary income assessment.
If you or your spouse/partner receive other pensions, each of you must also enter these in your preliminary income assessment. Otherwise, you risk having to repay state pension later. See which fields to use in the section “How to update pension, early retirement benefits and salary” on this page.
Your spouse’s or partner’s earned income is not included in the calculation of your pension from 1 January 2023. However, your spouse's or partner's other personal income — including income from running a business (where the spouse/partner is passive in the operation), capital income and income from shares — is still included in the calculation of your pension.
You can read more about this on borger.dk.
If you're entitled to paid holiday, your holiday pay is calculated when you leave your workplace.
Any unused holiday (remaining holiday) is transferred to a kind of holiday card, and the relevant amount is taxed in the month your employment ends. The amount will appear in your tax assessment notice, box 11.
If you're wondering why your total income for the year is higher than expected, this may be because your holiday pay was calculated and taxed when you left your job.
Similarly, you must remember to report any other income you received in connection with your resignation in box 11 of your tax assessment notice. This may include, for example, paid overtime. Please call us to have the field unlocked so you can update it.
If you have received a severance payment, it will be shown in box 14 of the tax assessment notice. You can't update this box yourself. So if the amount is incorrect, you should contact the reporting party, who must submit a corrected report.
You may work alongside your pension or early retirement benefits. Be aware that your state pension may be reduced or stopped entirely if you earn above a certain amount. You can read more in Danish about how much you may earn before your state pension is reduced (borger.dk).
Remember to enter your expected earned income for the year in your preliminary income assessment.
If you have a spouse or partner, be aware that your income may also affect your spouse’s/partner’s payment.
Your spouse’s or partner’s earned income is not included in the calculation of your pension from 1 January 2023. However, the personal income of your spouse or partner — including income from running a business (where the spouse/partner is passive in the operation), capital income and income from shares — is still included in the calculation of your pension. Read more in Danish about this on borger.dk.
Remember to update your tax card if you have a job
You must make sure that only one provider uses your primary tax card.
If you have several types of income when you receive the state pension, you must remember to use your secondary tax card.
For example, if you start receiving regular pension payments from your pension provider, or if you start working and receive salary income, you must choose your secondary tax card for that payment. Inform your pension provider and/or your employer.
If you don't do this, your tax allowance may be applied more than once, and you risk having to pay tax back later.
You can see whether a provider uses your primary or secondary tax card by logging on to E-tax (TastSelv) and selecting Indkomstoplysninger fra eIndkomst (Income information from E-income). Choose the year under Vis e-Skattekort for år (See e-tax card for year), then click Hent oplysning (Retrieve information).
Running a business when you receive a pension or early retirement benefits
You may continue running a business when you receive the state pension. Your income may affect your pension though — you can read more about this in Danish on borger.dk.
If you receive the state pension and have income from running a business, you must notify Udbetaling Danmark directly when changes occur.
Read more in Danish: If you receive early retirement benefits and run a business (borger.dk).
Tax-free work by pensioners in private homes
If you receive the state pension, you may work in private homes for up to DKK 13,800 in 2026 (DKK 13,100 in 2025) without paying tax. Note that this only applies to small tasks carried out for private individuals.
Read more in Danish about pensioners and tax-free work (borger.dk).
For further legal information in Danish see our legal guide .