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Guide

The Danish VAT return: how to file VAT

The VAT return (momsangivelsen) is the form you send to the Danish Tax Agency, Skattestyrelsen, for each VAT period: how much VAT you added to your sales, how much you paid on your purchases, and the difference. Here is what the boxes mean, when you file, and how the figures come about in Veneti.

  • Output VAT less input VAT is what you pay
  • The period is set by the tax agency after turnover
  • Every figure in the return opens to its entries
  • The VAT settlement is booked as a general journal voucher

Updated 21 October 2026

What is the VAT return?

As a VAT-registered business you charge 25 % VAT on your sales in Denmark and pay VAT on most of what you buy. The VAT is the state's, settled for each VAT period in TastSelv Erhverv on skat.dk. The return states the period box by box; its result is what you pay or get back.

The return is built from the books: every entry with VAT carries a VAT code, which decides the box it counts in. Right books, right return, so this guide is as much about checking entries as about the form.

The boxes of the VAT return

The form has a handful of amount boxes. Most businesses use only the first two; the rest matter once you trade abroad:

BoxWhat it shows
Output VATThe VAT you added to your sales in the period.
VAT on goods purchased abroadVAT you calculate yourself on goods bought abroad, in and outside the EU.
VAT on services purchased abroadVAT you calculate yourself on services bought abroad under reverse charge.
Input VATThe VAT you paid on purchases and may deduct.
Energy dutiesOil, electricity, gas, coal, CO2 and water duties the business is refunded.
Box AThe value excluding VAT of goods and services bought in other EU countries.
Box BThe value of goods and services sold without VAT to other EU countries.
Box CThe value of other sales without VAT, exports outside the EU included.

VAT on purchases abroad appears in two boxes at once: calculated as VAT owed and deducted as input VAT in the same return, so with full deduction it nets to zero. This is reverse charge, and it surprises many: an invoice without VAT from a foreign supplier means you declare the VAT yourself.

Sales without VAT to EU business customers (box B) are also reported in the EU sales list with the customer's VAT number, a separate filing the VAT return does not replace.

VAT periods and deadlines

The tax agency sets your VAT period after turnover: monthly, quarterly or half-yearly. A new business files quarterly as a rule; the period changes when turnover calls for it. Period and deadlines are in TastSelv Erhverv; check there before you plan.

  • Quarterly: due, as a rule, on the 1st of the third month after the quarter.
  • Half-yearly: as a rule 1 September for the first half and 1 March for the second.
  • Monthly: as a rule in the following month; the exact date is in TastSelv.
  • Nil return: file even when there is nothing to declare.

Payment has the same deadline; VAT owed to you is paid to the business's NemKonto. Deadlines and rates are on skat.dk, and those apply.

How the return is calculated in Veneti

In Veneti, every entry gets its VAT code in the journal: Veneti suggests it from the account and the document, and you correct it if it is wrong. The chart is born with the codes: S25 for sales with VAT, K25 for purchases with VAT, KY25-EU and KV25-EU for purchases in the EU, SY0-EU for sales to EU business customers, SY0-UEU and SV0-UEU for sales outside the EU, and "Ingen" for what carries no VAT. See output and input VAT in the glossary.

When you pick a period on the VAT page, Veneti calculates the return box by box as the tax agency's form has it: the VAT accounts supply the VAT amounts, the VAT codes on the other accounts supply boxes A, B and C, and every box is rounded to whole kroner before the total is taken.

Only booked entries count: a voucher still in the journal is left out, so finish booking before you read the return. A reversed voucher cancels against its storno when both fall in the period.

Check every figure before you file

  1. Finish booking the period

    Book everything in the journal that belongs to the period; the return reads only what is booked.

  2. Open the return for the period

    Pick the period on the VAT page; the boxes are TastSelv's, in TastSelv's order.

  3. Open every box

    Click a figure and see the entries behind it. Look for amounts that do not belong: a purchase with K25 that should have had no VAT, or a foreign invoice without a VAT code.

  4. Correct in the journal, not in the return

    The return cannot be edited: a wrong VAT code on a booked voucher is corrected with a reversing voucher, and the return follows.

  5. Compare with sales

    Revenue in the income statement times 25 % should equal output VAT if all sales carry Danish VAT. A difference always has an explanation; know it before the tax agency asks.

  6. Enter the figures in TastSelv Erhverv

    Sign in to TastSelv Erhverv on skat.dk and enter the figures box by box as the VAT page shows them. The return in Veneti stays in place for the period, so a figure can always be opened to the entries behind it. Then book the VAT settlement, as the next section shows.

Book the VAT settlement

Once the period is filed, the VAT accounts are cleared so the next period starts from zero, and what you owe moves to Momsafregning, with an ordinary general journal voucher in the journal. Nothing automates it, deliberately: the settlement is a booking you should see and understand.

  1. Create a general journal voucher

    Date it the last day of the period; the date decides which period the settlement belongs to.

  2. Clear output VAT

    Move the Salgsmoms balance to Momsafregning, without a VAT code: 25,000 kr. if that is what Salgsmoms holds.

  3. Clear input VAT

    Move the Købsmoms balance the same way, with the opposite sign: 10,000 kr. leaves 15,000 kr. on Momsafregning, what you owe.

  4. Book the payment against the bank

    When the payment leaves the bank, its line arrives in the journal; code it to Momsafregning so the balance goes to zero. The period's return does not change, since settlement vouchers stay out of the calculation.

New to bookkeeping? Bookkeeping for beginners explains what a general journal voucher does with account and offset account. To try it yourself, Get started.

Questions

What happens if I file late?

The tax agency charges a fee for a late return and interest on late payment. The rates are on skat.dk. File on time, with a nil return if need be, so the fee never becomes a question.

Can I correct a return I have already sent?

Yes, a return can be corrected in TastSelv Erhverv. First correct the bookkeeping with a new voucher so the return in Veneti shows the right figure, then correct the return with the tax agency so the two agree.

Why is there a figure in VAT on services purchased abroad when I paid no VAT?

Because you bought a service abroad without VAT, for example a software subscription. You calculate the VAT yourself, declare it and deduct it in the same return. The amount nets to zero, but it has to be there.

Does Veneti book the VAT settlement automatically?

No. The settlement is a general journal voucher you create and book yourself in the journal, dated the last day of the period. The return does not change because of it, since settlement vouchers are kept out of the calculation.

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