Denmark

#31 overall · Score 61.6 / 100 · down two places from 2025

Overall

#31

61.6 / 100

down two places from 2025

Corporate

#19

65.2 / 100

unchanged from 2025

Individual

#37

43.7 / 100

down one place from 2025

Consumption

#20

57.5 / 100

down one place from 2025

Property

#14

64.4 / 100

up three places from 2025

Cross-border

#32

54.0 / 100

unchanged from 2025

Notable Changes from 2025

Denmark added a new personal income tax bracket in 2026, increasing its top rate from 55.9 to 60.5 percent and raising the top rate threshold from around 1.2 to 5.3 times the average salary. Denmark’s rank fell from 29th to 31st.

Strengths

  • The corporate tax rate of 22 percent lies below the OECD average (24.2 percent), and the corporate income tax system features few complex incentives.
  • Denmark has a territorial tax system, exempting both foreign dividends and capital gains income for its treaty partners and other European countries.
  • Denmark has a relatively broad VAT base that covers 63 percent of final consumption and a low registration threshold.

Weaknesses

  • In addition to a combined top personal income tax rate of 60.5 percent, the personal income tax rates on dividends and capital gains are both at 42 percent, well above the OECD averages of 24.7 percent and 19.7 percent, respectively.
  • Net operating losses can be carried forward indefinitely but are limited to 60 percent of taxable income if they exceed a certain amount.
  • Denmark uses First In, First Out for assessing the cost of inventory for tax purposes.

Component Scores

Denmark category scores out of 100Corporate Taxes: score 65.2, rank 19. Individual Taxes: score 43.7, rank 37. Consumption Taxes: score 57.5, rank 20. Property Taxes: score 64.4, rank 14. Cross-Border Tax Rules: score 54.0, rank 32255075100Corporate Taxes: 65.2 (rank 19)Individual Taxes: 43.7 (rank 37)Consumption Taxes: 57.5 (rank 20)Property Taxes: 64.4 (rank 14)Cross-Border Tax Rules: 54.0 (rank 32)CorporateIndividualConsumptionPropertyCross-border
Category Rank Score vs 2025
Corporate Taxes #19 65.2 unchanged from 2025
Individual Taxes #37 43.7 down one place from 2025
Consumption Taxes #20 57.5 down one place from 2025
Property Taxes #14 64.4 up three places from 2025
Cross-Border Tax Rules #32 54.0 unchanged from 2025

Ranking Changes, 2014–2026

Denmark's best overall rank was 29th and its worst was 32nd. It ranks 31st in 2026.

Overall rank by year for DenmarkDenmark: 2014 rank 32, 2015 rank 31, 2016 rank 30, 2017 rank 29, 2018 rank 29, 2019 rank 31, 2020 rank 30, 2021 rank 30, 2022 rank 30, 2023 rank 31, 2024 rank 30, 2025 rank 29, 2026 rank 312014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026Denmark 2014: rank 32Denmark 2015: rank 31Denmark 2016: rank 30Denmark 2017: rank 29Denmark 2018: rank 29Denmark 2019: rank 31Denmark 2020: rank 30Denmark 2021: rank 30Denmark 2022: rank 30Denmark 2023: rank 31Denmark 2024: rank 30Denmark 2025: rank 29Denmark 2026: rank 31#32#31

OECD Context

Each row places all 38 countries on a 0–100 score scale for one measure. Denmark is highlighted; the dashed line is the OECD median.

All 38 Countries' Ranks

Overall and category ranks for all 38 countries
CountryOverallCorporateIndividualConsumptionPropertyCross-border
Estonia#1#2#1#24#1#7
Latvia#2#1#8#22#4#6
New Zealand#3#31#7#1#8#14
Switzerland#4#7#9#4#36#2
Lithuania#5#3#10#23#6#16
Luxembourg#6#20#21#7#15#5
Czech Republic#7#9#4#32#5#11
Australia#8#29#14#9#3#23
Turkey#9#21#6#15#22#8
Hungary#10#5#3#38#23#4
Israel#11#11#31#11#10#18
Slovak Republic#12#24#2#33#7#17
Sweden#13#6#18#26#9#12
Costa Rica#14#35#13#6#11#29
Canada#15#17#28#8#25#28
Netherlands#16#23#30#14#20#3
United States#17#8#17#3#27#37
Austria#18#18#27#17#17#10
Germany#19#30#34#13#12#9
Norway#20#15#29#27#16#15
Mexico#21#28#26#12#2#38
Finland#22#10#24#28#21#24
Greece#23#22#5#29#30#19
Chile#24#32#23#10#13#36
Slovenia#25#14#12#30#24#30
Korea#26#26#38#2#31#34
Belgium#27#16#15#25#28#21
Japan#28#36#35#5#26#31
Ireland#29#4#36#35#18#27
United Kingdom#30#25#22#34#33#1
Denmark#31#19#37#20#14#32
Poland#32#12#11#36#29#25
Portugal#33#34#19#21#19#33
Iceland#34#13#32#19#34#26
Spain#35#33#20#18#35#20
Italy#36#27#16#37#38#22
Colombia#37#37#25#16#37#35
France#38#38#33#31#32#13

Among European Peers

Denmark ranks 21st of 27 European OECD members on the overall index.

Source: 2026 International Tax Competitiveness Index.

Notes on the Data

The 2026 Index uses the most up-to-date data available as of July 2026. Data may not reflect changes in countries making rapid reforms.

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About the Authors

Alex Mengden Tax Foundation
Expert

Alex Mengden

Economist

Alex Mengden is an Economist at the Tax Foundation, where he focuses on international tax issues and tax policy in Europe. He holds a BA in philosophy and economics from the University of Bayreuth and an MSc in economics from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.

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Luis Zarka

Transatlantic Tax Fellow

Luis Zarka was a 2026 Transatlantic Tax Fellow with the Tax Foundation’s Center for Global Tax Policy.

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