How we calculate
How Klarpay calculates your salary after tax
The calculator follows the order the Danish Tax Agency uses on a preliminary assessment: pension and ATP first, then AM-bidrag, then deductions, then the taxes layer by layer. Every rate on this page is read from the calculator itself, so the figures here are the figures in use.
Tax year 2026. Rates are the Ministry of Taxation's thresholds for 2026.
Step by step
How a gross salary becomes the amount that reaches your account.
Pension and ATP come out first
Your own pension contribution through your employer and ATP (99 kr a month) are deducted before any tax is calculated. This is the bortseelsesret rule: the money is taxed when it is paid out as pension, not now. Your employer's pension contribution is not part of your taxable salary and is shown on its own in the result.
AM-bidrag at 8%
The labour market contribution is 8% of salary after pension and ATP. It is taken before every other tax, and the amount after AM-bidrag is what the rest of the calculation works from.
About AM-bidragDeductions
The personal allowance of 54,100 kr is deducted before bottom tax and municipal tax are calculated. The employment deduction is 12.75% of salary, at most 63,300 kr a year, and the job deduction is 4.5% of income above 235,200 kr, at most 3,100 kr. If you entered unemployment insurance and union fees, they are deducted as well: unemployment insurance without a ceiling, union fees up to 7,000 kr a year. Your own pension contributions also earn an extra pension deduction of 12% of the contribution, up to 87,800 kr.
All deductions explainedMunicipal tax, church tax and bottom tax
Municipal tax depends on the municipality you pick. In 2026 the rates run from 23.39% to 26.30%, and the calculator uses your municipality's exact rate. Bottom tax is 12.01% and the same nationwide. Church tax is only included when you switch it on, at your municipality's rate.
See every municipality's rateMiddle tax, top tax and top-top tax
The three progressive taxes are charged on income after AM-bidrag. Middle tax is 7.5% of the part above 641,200 kr. Top tax adds 7.5% above 777,900 kr, and top-top tax adds 5% above 2,592,700 kr. A bonus counts towards the base in the year it is paid.
About top taxThe tax ceiling
Bottom tax, middle tax and municipal tax together may not exceed 44.57%. If your municipality's rate pushes the sum over the ceiling, middle tax is reduced by the difference. Top tax and top-top tax sit above the ceiling and are never reduced.
Take-home pay
What remains after every tax is your take-home pay. The calculator shows it per month and per year, rounded to whole kroner. Your own pension and your employer's pension are shown on their own, so you can see what the whole package is worth.
Special schemes
The researcher scheme
The researcher scheme replaces steps 3 to 6 with a flat 27% tax on top of AM-bidrag. There are no deductions and no municipal tax. The calculator applies the scheme when you switch it on and shows the salary requirement as guidance.
About the researcher schemeSection 7P share pay
Share-based pay under section 7P of the Danish Tax Assessment Act is taxed as share income rather than salary: 27% up to 79,400 kr a year and 42% above that. The calculator works out both the salary and the shares when you enter a share component.
About section 7P share payThe rates the calculator uses in 2026
This table is read from the same constants the calculation runs on. When the rates change, the table changes with them.
- Item
- Rate 2026
- AM-bidrag
- 8%
- Bottom tax
- 12.01%
- Middle tax
- 7.5% above 641,200 kr after AM-bidrag
- Top tax
- 7.5% above 777,900 kr after AM-bidrag
- Top-top tax
- 5% above 2,592,700 kr after AM-bidrag
- Tax ceiling
- 44.57%
- Municipal tax
- 23.39% to 26.30%, depending on municipality
- Personal allowance
- 54,100 kr
- Employment deduction
- 12.75%, at most 63,300 kr
- Job deduction
- 4.5% above 235,200 kr, at most 3,100 kr
- Union fee deduction, ceiling
- 7,000 kr a year
- ATP, employee share
- 99 kr a month
What is included, and what is not
Included
- AM-bidrag, bottom tax and your municipality's tax rate
- Middle tax, top tax, top-top tax and the tax ceiling
- Personal allowance, employment deduction and job deduction
- ATP and your own pension contribution, including its tax value
- Church tax, when you switch it on
- Unemployment insurance and union fees, when you enter the amounts
- Bonus and section 7P share pay, when entered
- The researcher scheme, when switched on
Not included
- Commuting deduction, home services deduction and other itemised deductions beyond unemployment insurance and union fees
- Interest paid, interest earned and other capital income
- Your personal preliminary assessment, meaning the withholding rate and allowance on your tax card
- Transfer of unused personal allowance between spouses
- Holiday pay, flexible benefit schemes and the timing of bonus payments
- Outstanding or excess tax from earlier years
- Income other than the salary you enter
Why your payslip can show something else
The calculator spreads a full year's tax evenly over 12 months. Your tax card does the same, but with the deductions the Tax Agency knows from your preliminary assessment. If you changed something there, or your pay varies month to month, a single payslip will land somewhere else even though the year's total tax is the same.
The final tax is settled on the annual statement in March the following year. When the calculator and the payslip disagree, that is usually where the difference evens out.
Sources
The rates are taken from:
- Danish Ministry of Taxation: thresholds under section 20 of the Personal Tax Act for 2026
- Danish Tax Agency: the legal guide (Den juridiske vejledning), sections on personal tax, deductions and the researcher scheme
- ATP Livslang Pension: contribution rates for employees
- Danish Ministry of Taxation: municipal and church tax rates for all 98 municipalities
Errors in a calculation
Write to us if a figure looks wrong. Include your salary, municipality and the options you switched on so we can reproduce the calculation. You can also report it straight from the result in the calculator.