5 Traps Students Fall Into in Denmark
Updated: Jan 22
Denmark is a great country where people don't have to worry about leaving their doors unlocked. You never have to worry about getting robbed or have anything stolen from you.
However, there are still certain things that you need to be careful with.
1. Not setting your taxes properly
In Denmark, you get multiple tax cards, with different tax percentages.
Each citizen will disclose their income and deductions in what is known as a preliminary income assessment; the government will then asses this.
In the event that the assessment you have presented is incorrect you will either be owed money or owe money to the tax authorities.
You can have only one income on your main card (kort in danish) commonly known as the A-kort, while the rest has to be on the B-Kort.
So, if you have a job and getting SU, you need to have the SU on one tax card, and the income from your job on the other.
You need to do this, in order not to be taxed too little, and having to return money in May.
We will not dive deeper into this topic in this article, but we have made 2 articles and some videos about taxes in Denmark, so check them out if you want to learn more:
2. DR License
DR License is a media license that needs to be paid by everyone in Denmark who have access to TV, Radio or Internet.
It used to cost around 1.927 DKK per year, while in 2021 the price has been reduced. Nevertheless, we will not comment on whether you should be paying that or not (although you might want to watch our video to learn more), but sometimes you might actually be "tricked" into paying.
We have made a whole article about this topic that you can read here.
If you are an exchange student, this will not be a valuable service to you, and will only cost you money. Read our article, to find out who can avoid paying this license.
3. Phone salesmen on the streets
You can spot them mainly on busy streets in big cities.
They usually have a stand, banners and flyers in hand, ready to get you the best deal of your life.
Only, they wont...
Avoid these people because their phone company will never get you a great deal! And even if they do, it's important to do some research first!
Read our blog about best sim cards in Denmark, so you can get a much better deal for a great price!
4. Scams
Email and phone scams are quite common in Denmark.
Email scams are easy to spot, if you know what you are looking for.
A shady email address should be the first red flag.
You should also always be concerned if money or security are a theme. In these cases, google the official number of the company and ask them before acting.
In most cases, these things are scams and you can lose a lot of money if you trust them!
If you get a phone call from an unknown number, it is a good strategy to ignore them until you know who they are.
It can also happen that you get an SMS out of nowhere, informing you, for example, about a certain money transfer in your name and asking you to open the attached link. Unless you are 100% sure that the message is from your bank and that you are the one involved in the transaction, DON'T press the link.
In Denmark we have webpages where people report scams or phone salesmen, such as 180.dk as well as phone registers, krak.dk, so that you can make an informed decision.
5. Betalingsservice
This automatic payment system is a great way to avoid any late invoices, and it also saves you some kroner which you would have otherwise paid if you got the paper invoice.
All you have to do is sign each payment up to the system, and then you never have to worry about paying your bills too late.
However, keep in mind that the first invoice you get has to be paid manually, only then can you pay it through betalingsservice.
If you sign up from the first invoice, your payment will not be registered automatically and you will be billed for an extra, unpaid invoice.
Betalingsservice can be used on web, but the mobile app version is also quick and easy to use.
Summary
Don't let your guard down entirely, even in Denmark. It is ridiculous expensive to live here, but here are the first tips to make it less so.
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