As the owner of a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited partnership or limited partnership, you can choose to be taxed under the company scheme (also called VSO).
The scheme is voluntary and can be an alternative to, for example, personal taxation under the Personal Tax Act. Whether you should choose one form of taxation or another depends entirely on your business and situation.
As the company scheme can be complicated to work with, we recommend that you use the services of an accountant if you choose this scheme. Here are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions we receive about the company scheme.
Under the Personal Income Tax Act, you are taxed on the company's profits (income minus expenses), while the company scheme allows you to pay full tax only on the portion of profits that you withdraw for private consumption. The part of the profit that remains in the company is taxed at a lower rate.
The corporate tax rate is currently 22% and corresponds to the current corporate tax rate.
A key advantage of the corporate scheme is that it is temporary and can be used to even out taxable income between "good" and "bad" years, thereby reducing top tax in the good years.
If you withdraw less for private consumption in a year than the company earns, the profit remaining in the company alone is taxed at 22% business tax.
On the other hand, if you withdraw more than the company earns next year, you will have to pay full personal tax on the amount withdrawn, but in return you will be credited with the previously paid business tax.
A company earns 800,000 DKK before tax.
The owner withdraws DKK 600,000 for himself and pays full personal tax on this amount.
The company's remaining profit of DKK 200,000 remains in the company's bank account and is only taxed at the low corporate tax rate (22%).
The following year, the business is doing badly. The profit is only DKK 200,000, but the owner still withdraws DKK 400,000 for himself.
The owner must pay full personal tax on the DKK 400,000 and will also receive a credit for the previously paid business tax of 22% of DKK 200,000.
In this example, the company scheme means that the company saves top tax (15%) on DKK 200,000 in the first year because the taxation of this amount is "moved" from one year to the next.
The corporate scheme also has some interest benefits. You can deduct your business interest expenses from personal income rather than capital income. This results in a higher deduction percentage.
However, please note that as of the 2021 income year, profits from renting out real estate to related parties will not receive the same benefits as other businesses, as the value of the interest deduction has been reduced by a technical calculation (interest correction).
The scheme requires a more detailed organization of the company's bookkeeping. The bookkeeping must be organized so that your total economy is divided into a business economy (business scheme) and a private economy for accounting purposes.
If one day you no longer wish to use the scheme, you should be aware that any accumulated profits from previous years will be taxed in full.
The company scheme can be used by people who run actual self-employed businesses (sole proprietorships, partnerships, limited partnerships and partnerships).
Furthermore, the scheme can be used by people who rent out real estate, because renting out real estate (house and condominium) is considered a business activity for tax purposes.
Read more about the conditions for using the company scheme on the Tax Agency's website.
We recommend that you contact an accountant or tax advisor who can help you.