Unlimited days off to tend to sick children; Hungarian edition; Beware of the electricity companies; Tax season

Last Week in Denmark (10.11-17.11) Episode 39 Year 4

Editor HQ 

State of Denmark 

Line. Procession. Sequence. Waiting line. So many words to express our week. Since Tuesday, we tried to access the tax website to see what deductions we will have for next year, and each time there were tens of thousands already waiting in the queue. Needless to say, we didn’t have the patience, so we probably will have to wait for the interest to cool off before we can satiate our curiosity. 

While we were camping outside the tax towers, the most significant story of the week happened in Germany. Just like the US election results impact us directly, so do those in Germany. You could say even more so. Unfortunately, the German government fell after the love between social democrats and liberals died out, and early elections will be happening sooner than expected (February 23, 2025). Once again, we will wait with baited breath for the results to trickle in. Nobody wants a far-right-led Germany. I don’t think we need to explain why. 

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Referral Campaign

Wow! Just, wow! We’ve had an impressive first week in the referral campaign sponsored by Bloomtree Tech. So far, 619 new subscribers have joined our community! This means we’ve already reached 61.9% of the original goal. If you missed the details about the competition last week, read here. 

Top 5 this week (15.11.2024): Alina Racila (65); Rupert Jacobsen (50); Milena Giunti (44); Natalia Sol Pereyra (12); Stephen Powell (11). 

There are three more weeks left in the competition (deadline December 13), which means it is still anyone’s game. Wanna know how to win? Read some tips from last year’s winner, Toshali, here. Other ideas? Write on your company’s intranet, on the local Facebook group for your city/village, on your friend WhatsApp/Facebook chat groups, on your association(s) internal communication, or, to be even more outlandish, get an influencer to use your link and secure a home run. All the emails are scanned to ensure validity. 

Thank you for reading and sharing Last Week in Denmark! 

P.S. - On Friday, we had the last supermoon of the year, the “beaver moon.”

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LWID Universe 

Welcome to our 8th language edition, Hungarian: Szia. Thanks to the initiative taken by a group of Hungarian-speaking LWID subscribers, we can proudly present to you our eighth language edition. You can see the first edition here. If you speak Hungarian or know someone who speaks it, don’t hesitate to share the news with them. The team is led by Eszter Chrobacsinszky and includes Kitti Adamcsek, Klaudia Kónya, Eszter Auer, Lajos Kis, and Mónika Ozsváth. 

We are looking for reporters from North, Central, and South Denmark. As our team is heavily dominated by Copenhagen-based reporters, we need to expand our reach. Therefore, if you are willing to write one article per month, join our volunteer team. Write to our reporters team lead, Ali Lewis, at alilewisstrevens@gmail.com 

Thank you, Stephanie Fuccio, for the volunteer support provided to Last Week in Denmark in the past three months. Your insights regarding audience growth have proven to be invaluable. You can already see her influence when you open the mail (we reversed the subtitles with the title), and more will come after the winter break. 

AMIS will organize an online meeting on Wednesday, November 27, 19:00, where you can learn about the free travel opportunities around Europe and more. To get an invitation, you need to become a member here. 

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Danish Politics HQ

Weekly political overview 

The next chapter in the war against screens. The Ministry of Education wants foreign language exams in gymnasiums to go analog. Why? To reduce cheating and ensure a more accurate evaluation of the student's capabilities. Some gymnasiums have already chosen to switch to analog in May 2025. 

Aalborg Municipality vs. KL (Association of Municipalities): A progressive proposal from Aalborg City Council to give public employees who are parents unlimited days to tend to their sick children has been shot down by KL, the Association of Municipalities. Why? KL said such a proposal should be discussed within the collective agreement framework, where trade unions and employer associations negotiate. The inspiration for the proposal comes from the energy company Norlys, which already has implemented it. 

Current rules for child sick days: If your child is sick and you need to care for them, you must look at your contract to see if you are entitled to the “child first sick day” to avoid taking an unpaid day. Some contracts even offer two consecutive “child sick days.” Read more about the rules here. P.S. - If it’s not written, you should negotiate next time you discuss your contract to have it included. 

“Short-term protests and demonstrations do not change the balance of power,” says Belgian political historian Anton Jäger in his book “Hyperpolitics.” In the last 10-15 years, the number of protest movements has increased tremendously, but without any real impact on legislation. Why? The protesters didn’t commit for the long run. They expressed their anger and then forgot to follow up. In fact, memberships in political parties, trade unions, and civil society organizations are in severe decline. 

Does the municipality (kommune) use Google Translate to talk with you? Several experts on social matters say that the municipality is in a legal gray zone when they use Google Translate to talk with you. Technically, they should be using an interpreter. Why? According to the Public Administration Act, authorities are obliged to ensure that, in a child protection case, you understand the information received. The municipality has full responsibility for Google Translate being as good as an interpreter.

Proposals from political parties

• SF (Socialists) want to introduce a tourism tax in Copenhagen to strictly regulate AirBnB practices in the city, to stop the construction of new hotels, and to limit the number of cruise ships coming. The government is not positive about the ideas, as they plan to increase tourism to Denmark. 

Snapshots from the political stage 

• Enhedslisten (Red-Green Alliance) will hold an extraordinary general assembly on December 14th to enact new rules that will allow them to kick out members who are not following the party line. Mainly, the idea is to exclude the “Red Left” faction for not denouncing their ties with a Palestinian organization linked to the Hamas terrorist attack. 

Focus

850 million DKK for the less fortunate members of our society: A broad agreement between almost all the parliamentary parties (besides DF - Nationalist Conservative) has decided how the money should be distributed. 

• 100 million DKK for the homeless, to support more people moving into permanent housing. 

• 70 million DKK for the disability sector, including service dogs for people with mental disabilities and an action plan for education and employment. 

• 65 million DKK for the victims of violence, to support the association “Lev Uden Vold” and outpatient treatment. 

• 50 million DKK to address the inequality in healthcare access. 

• 23 million DKK for the adoption sector, to reform the international adoption mediation and to provide support for adoptees after the adoption. 

Stricter legislation on the energy market: The Ministry of Energy announced stricter legislation for companies on the energy market, as the industry has become a bit of a “Wild West” where rules are not abided. Some electricity companies offer products that are opaque, do not comply with the law, or are unreasonably expensive. The more specific proposal will be made at the start of 2025. 

Danish Economics HQ

Weekly economics overview 

The energy company Energi+ has received fines of over one million DKK for contacting clients on the phone without their consent and for misleading them into contracts. They made illegal sales calls to 83 people without consent and misled 73 of them into contracts. This is one of the 25 cases reported to the police by the Consumer Ombudsman. 

• If you get contacted by an electricity company without requesting it, just hang up immediately. Do not buy anything over the phone. Do not say the word "Yes/Ja" in any context, as they can use it as an audio file to prove the sale.

One-third of electricity offers are misleading: The Consumer Ombudsman warns against entering into an electricity contract with 21 out of the 55 electricity companies on the market. You can see the list of companies to avoid here. 

Record exports (251 billion DKK) from Denmark to the USA in the first nine months of the year. An increase of 44 billion DKK was recorded compared to the same period last year. This helps shed light on the magnitude of the negative impact trade tariffs introduced by the USA can have on our economy. The proposed customs tariffs are to be set at 10%, which will wipe out the profit margin for many companies that export to the USA. 

US stocks should be taken with a grain of salt and moderation. Investment guru Warren Buffet has historically sold most of his shares in times when the share value of many US companies was going up and up. The last time he did it was before the financial crisis in 2008. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, has amassed an incredible amount of cash (325 billion dollars) and is most likely preparing for an overheating of the stock market, which will send the share value downwards to a level where he will be able to buy many companies on the cheap. 

Almost zero unemployment among tax specialists. If you like numbers, compliance, and control and are looking for a change in career towards a more stable job, you should consider taking a professional bachelor in taxation. There is a guaranteed job for you at graduation. 

34,900 adults aged 30 to 44 years old still live with their parents. That corresponds to 3.2% of the entire population in that age group. It’s mainly men, people with low incomes, and descendants of non-Western backgrounds. Compared to a decade ago, the percentage has increased from 2.3% to 3.2%. 

From 2030, companies will no longer be allowed to use the title “Royal Court Supplier.” The Royal House decided that it no longer fits the times to give preferential treatment to some companies over others. There are currently 104 Danish companies and five international ones that use that title. 

• Companies that use the crown in their logo will have to send an application to the National Archives to prove that there is a historical connection to be able to keep it after 2030. Some companies have had the title for more than a hundred years. 

You can now check the preliminary property assessment, which will be used to determine your property taxes for 2025 and 2026. 

Focus

More money in your pocket from 2025 as tax deductions increase. The employment deduction (fradrag) will increase from 10.65% to 12.3%. From 45,100 DKK to 55,600 DKK maximum per year. You can check your preliminary tax statement for 2025 here. 

Besides the employment deduction, there are other tax deductions to consider: 

• Transport deduction if you drive more than 12 kilometers between your home and your workplace. You can deduct 2.23 DKK per kilometer between 24 and 100 kilometers per day and 1.12 DKK per kilometer over 100 kilometers per day. For 2025, the exact numbers might change. Also, if you live in an “yderkommuner” or a small island, there are special rules for you. 

• Services deduction for cleaning, gardening, childcare, to name a few. You can get up to 12,400 DKK per person living in the house. There might be another deduction introduced from 2025 related to house improvements. We will know for sure in December. 

• “Rate pension” (Installment pension) deduction of up to 65,500 DKK per year. 

• Expenses connected with obtaining a mortgage (bank fees, the guarantee commission) can be deducted. Also, if you bought a house, remember to register the day when you move in so that you start paying property taxes only from that moment. Automatically, it is registered on the day of acquisition. 

• Report losses on shares as you get a tax deduction for them. 

• You can deduct donations to charities of up to 19,000 DKK. Donations for research do not have an upper limit, so you can deduct everything you donated. The recipient of the donation needs to report it for you to be able to get the deduction. 

• If you travel for work for more than 24 hours (too far away to return home at night), you can get a fixed-rate deduction for accommodation. However, your expenses should not be covered by the employer and there should not be a tax-free allowance from the employer. 

• Interest expenses on loans (including private loans) can also be deducted. 

Entrepreneurship Corner
Last call for business owners to get digitalization support in 2024! If you had a minimum average of two full-time employees in 2023, you can still qualify for a 50,000 DKK voucher, which can be used for your digitalization needs (website, online marketing, webshop, video ads, cybersecurity, branding, etc.). Write to np@aalborgid.com (Bernardo).

Tip of the week! According to the Marketing Law in Denmark, a business cannot call, send an SMS or email, write on social media platforms, or visit a private person at home. They must first obtain prior consent from the private person. What is possible? To leave physical letters in mailboxes and to talk to people in public spaces. Ensure when you outsource client acquisition to call centers that they respect the law, as they will contact clients on your behalf and you will be the one responsible if they break the law. The above rules do not apply for business-to-business interactions. 

Daily Life in Denmark HQ

Insights into the Danish way of life

How good is your balance, dear reader? This holiday season, the Danish capital is getting really icy - and it’s not coming from the sky. This time around, there will be four skating rinks in the city, as opposed to the usual two in Frederiksberg and Broens Gadekøkken. For Copenhageners, or anyone willing to do a day trip to the big city, there will also be ice in Kongens Nytorv and in Refshaleøen, where food-truck heaven Reffen is inaugurating its winter version with skates and all. 

Just like in other Scandinavian countries, ice skating has a long history in Denmark. What today is a pastime and sport was naturally born out of necessity. How else were people supposed to cross the frozen lakes and fjords all around the Nordics? In the old days, Danes are assumed to have used animal bones tied to their feet as skates, allowing transportation across frozen surfaces.

But if you’re suspicious of the ice and don’t have faith in your skating skills, fear not: there’s plenty more for you to do this winter. Some of the best things Denmark has to offer come around in the cold season, with treats such as æbleskiver, gløgg, and other delicacies filling the streets. The Christmas markets are already opening all around the country, and the government has hung their fair share of Christmas lights. This year, the famous Hotel D’Angleterre is bringing back its advent calendar decoration on the façade of the building, a tradition that hasn’t happened in years.

For the kids, the big amusement parks around the nation are at their prime, filled with decorations, candy, games, and an unimaginable amount of hygge. Last but not least, Coca-Cola is making its grand appearance this year and will show up in the capital this Sunday, November 17, with games and other Christmas activities for the kids to play. For those interested, you can find them in Vermlandsgade 45 in Amager, from 11.00 to 15.00. Happy weekend to all!

Weekly overview

A portrait of 30 of the most important women in Danish politics has been unveiled at the Parliament. Take this quiz and find out how well you know them. 

Telecom companies have received permission to read your text messages. An SMS firewall will be activated soon to read the text messages and prevent reception of the ones that contain potential fraud. The idea is inspired by Finland, where it reduced the amount of fraud attempts via text messages by 95%. An algorithm will read the messages. 

Half of the population has life-threatening habits related to charging electronics. Three main issues have been raised by the National Safety Agency (Sikkerhedsstyrelsen) and the National Emergency Management Agency (Beredskabsstyrelsen). Using non-original chargers, continuing to use chargers after being damaged, and charging at night. Last year, there were 131 fires connected to bad charging habits. 

The youth innovation competition at Nordborg Castle was won by two 10th graders, Arav Jha and Isabella Hollensen, who invented a medicine dispenser with multiple purposes that will make the lives of chronically ill people easier. They won against a chip that can alert the emergency center if you crash on a bike and a device that regulates light level based on how much sunlight enters the house. 

Researchers at Copenhagen University developed a patch that can make psoriasis treatment easier and more effective. The technology behind it has the potential of being used to treat other inflammatory skin diseases. Psoriasis affects 5% of the population in Denmark and is one of the most widespread skin diseases in the world. 

Cemeteries have become cultural centers. People go there for a run, to read a book on the benches or in the grass in between the tombstones, and for many other activities. As fewer people are buried (cremation is very popular), there is a lot of space that can be used differently. What has been done so far? Beehives, orchards, sleeping shelters, and large events like the “Day of the Dead” in Vestre Kirke (Aarhus). 

“No one should be alone at their funeral,” said a priest after seeing that no one signed up for the funeral of Henny Lillian Hansen. Thankfully, a Facebook message was shared by thousands, and all of a sudden there were people at the funeral. A story of humanity. 

8,402 weapons have been delivered to the police in the first 12 days of the “no punishment for illegal gun possession” campaign. 

International Community in Denmark HQ

Football legend Andrés Iniesta has bought FC Helsingør, a football club in the third Danish league. Kronborgs Drenge is now in 7th place  in the league. The club is co-owned with the Swiss company Stoneweg. 

Denmark loses case in the European Court of Human Rights. They deported a 27-year-old to Iraq, despite being born and raised in Denmark, with no previous convictions or family whatsoever in Iraq. As a consequence, the case will be brought before the Grand Chamber of the Court (Domstolens Storkammer) to see if the decision will be rescinded. The practice of a time-limit entry ban has also been questioned and needs to be revised. 

Ali Lewis published the sixth episode of the column “Found in Translation” under the title “Kvinde, Ken din plads”. 

Excerpt: “If you’ve started twitching a bit and wondering anxiously where this column is going, it‘s ok. I’ve felt the same in a number of frank conversations in Denmark about topics ranging from fashions in pubic hair to menopause and aging. I’m that awkward person thinking “Are we allowed to discuss pubes in Danish class?” We are quite repressed in the UK, and Danes are… not.”

Ali Lewis also wrote an article about the new campus of the University of Southern Denmark in Vejle. Read here. 

Announcement Board

Esbjerg, November 21, 17:00 - 19:00. Join the event “Newcomers' Info Evening” organized by the city of Aarhus at BLIXENS. You can also join online. 

International media about Denmark HQ

Denmark launches landmark framework for using AI under EU rules - with Microsoft backing (CNBC)

Rick Steves’ Europe: Denmark’s countryside delights (Hammonton Gazette)

Denmark signs Artemis Accords (Space News) 

What worries Denmark? - October 2024 (Ipsos) 

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