- ExpatFinance.dk

My Story

Who is the Aussie Expat?

I’m an Australian living in Denmark with my Danish wife and our son. In Australia I managed my own investments, owned property and managed my own pension, so I thought I was financially literate. Then I met the Danish system. The aktiesparekonto (share savings account) had a contribution cap and was taxed every year whether I sold anything or not. Share income over a fairly modest threshold was taxed at up to 42 %. Pensions came in several layers, each with its own rules, and my Australian assets had to go on a Danish tax return. The help I found in English was either a rough translation of a Danish page or generic expat advice that ignored Denmark’s rules entirely. So I went to the official sources and worked it out one rule at a time.

ExpatFinance.dk is the site I wish I’d found in my first month here.

How the site is researched

Official sources first. Tax and regulatory information comes from Danish authorities: Skattestyrelsen (skat.dk), the tax ministry, borger.dk, Finanstilsynet and the published law itself. Advisory firms’ guides and expat forums sometimes help me find the right page, but a figure only goes on this site after I’ve checked it at the source. Each article links the official pages it relies on and shows when its figures were last verified.

Experience where I have it. I’ve opened Danish bank accounts, filed Danish returns with overseas assets and sorted out my own pension contributions. Some articles cover situations I haven’t lived through myself, such as US citizens or Indian bank accounts. Those rely on the official sources alone.

Clear about limits. I’m not a licensed financial adviser, accountant or lawyer. The site explains how the rules work so you can see which ones apply to you and ask better questions. When an answer depends on the details of your own return (two countries taxing the same income, for example), the article says so and names who can help.

How to use the site

Use the articles to learn how a system works and what it usually means for someone in your situation. Then take that to your bank, Skattestyrelsen or a tax adviser, who can work with your actual numbers.

Get in touch

If you find an error, email me at aussie@expatfinance.dk. I’ll check it against the source and fix the article. Danish rules change often, and reader emails are one of the quickest ways I find out.

Topic ideas and general questions are welcome at the same address. I can’t give personal financial advice, but I’m always keen to hear which topics would be useful.

A final note

As an expat you’re always dealing with systems that weren’t built with you in mind. The Danish one makes much more sense once you can see how the pieces fit together, and life here gets a lot easier after that. That’s what this site is for.

Cheers,
Aussie