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A Danish company exists once the Danish Business Authority (Erhvervsstyrelsen) has registered it in the Central Business Register, the CVR, and given it a CVR number. For almost every foreign founder the form is the anpartsselskab, or ApS, which the Authority’s English guide calls a private limited liability company: the owners are not personally liable for the company’s debts and risk only what they paid in. Danish law sets no nationality or residence test for founders, owners or managers. What company formation in Denmark does require is a share capital of at least DKK 20,000 paid in before registration, an address in Denmark where the company can be contacted, a founding document and articles in Danish, and a filing made within two weeks of the founders’ signatures.
The Business Authority’s list of Danish business types covers capital companies, partnerships, cooperatives and sole proprietorships. It contains no LLP, so anyone researching how to set up an LLP in Denmark ends up choosing between the ApS and the partnership forms (P/S, K/S and I/S), which this page does not cover. Readers who know the Swedish aktiebolag will find two Danish counterparts: the anpartsselskab and the larger aktieselskab.
| Point | ApS (anpartsselskab) | A/S (aktieselskab) |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum share capital | DKK 20,000 since 27 February 2025 | DKK 400,000 |
| Paid in before registration | At least 25% and never less than DKK 20,000, so the minimum capital is paid in full | At least 25% |
| Management | A direktion alone is enough, even of one person | A board or supervisory board of at least 3 persons, plus a direktion |
| Offering shares to the public | Not allowed except in narrow cases listed in the Companies Act; no listing on a regulated market | Allowed |
| Requirement | What the Companies Act and the Business Authority say |
|---|---|
| Founders | One or more individuals or companies of any nationality and residence; an individual must be at least 18 and not under guardianship, reconstruction or bankruptcy; a sole proprietorship cannot found a company |
| Management | Each registered manager must actually function as one, be of age and not be disqualified; there is no residence requirement |
| Registered address (hjemsted) | An address in Denmark at which the company can be contacted; the Authority may check on site |
| Founding document | Signed by every founder, on paper or digitally, stating among other things the subscription rate (tegningskurs), the payment deadline and the date from which the formation takes effect |
| Articles (vedtægter) | Name containing ApS or anpartsselskab, object, capital, share rights, management structure, notice of general meetings and the financial year |
| People without a CPR number | Date of birth, nationality at birth, passport or national ID number with issuing country, and a photo of the valid document attached to the filing |
| Foreign company as owner | Its registry and registration number, any tax number, and an official certificate of good standing no more than 3 months old |
| Owners | Legal owners from 5% and beneficial owners above 25% registered together with the company |
| Audit | An auditor, or an opt-out stated in the founding document for a company that stays under two of DKK 4 million balance sheet, DKK 8 million net revenue and 12 full-time employees |
The minimum capital of an ApS was halved from DKK 40,000 to DKK 20,000 with effect from 27 February 2025. At least a quarter of the capital, and never less than DKK 20,000, has to be paid in, so a company formed with the minimum pays the whole amount before the Business Authority will register it. Cash goes either to an account in the company’s name or to a lawyer (advokat). The filing then carries one of four kinds of proof: a bank record, an extract of a lawyer’s client account, a lawyer’s declaration or an auditor’s declaration.
That second option matters to founders abroad. A Danish bank account is not a legal precondition of formation, and at least one large Danish bank takes business applications only from companies that already have a CVR number. How Danish banks treat foreign-owned companies is set out on our page about bank accounts for Danish companies.
Denmark regulates who may form companies for other people. Anyone who creates companies for clients, supplies professional managers or offers c/o addresses must be entered in the Business Authority’s register for combating money laundering before starting that work (Anti-Money Laundering Act, section 58(1)). When a formation is filed for someone else, the filer confirms being a lawyer, an approved auditor or such a registered provider. A formation agent in Denmark is therefore either a regulated professional or a business on that register, and it is fair to ask which before sending any identity documents.
The same rules explain why company secretarial services in Denmark look different from those in common-law countries. The management structures of the Companies Act (section 111) consist of a board, a direktion and a supervisory board, and none of them includes a company secretary; the duty to keep the owners’ register (ejerbog) and to make sure every registrable change reaches the Business Authority within two weeks of the decision lies with the company’s management. An adviser can do the work, yet the responsibility stays with the direktion, and the register cannot carry a manager in name only: registered managers must actually act as managers.
VAT registration is a separate step at virk.dk, accepted with MitID Erhverv. It becomes compulsory once sales of goods and services exceed DKK 50,000 within twelve months and is optional below that. The VAT Act asks for the registration no later than eight days before VAT-liable activity begins, and a new registration starts on quarterly VAT periods. The Danish VAT number is simply DK followed by the eight-digit CVR number.
The company acts online through MitID Erhverv, the business side of the Danish eID. A manager without a CPR number can become a user after creating a private MitID without CPR in the MitID app with a chipped passport or ID card and a face scan, but the connection of the company itself is started by someone who has a CPR number and private MitID, often the accountant, and signed by the manager. Letters from the Business Authority go to the company’s Digital Post mailbox, and every company with a CVR number should name a NemKonto, the account into which public authorities pay money; it may be held at a foreign bank.
| Obligation | Rule for a Danish ApS |
|---|---|
| Corporation tax | 22% of taxable profit; the return is usually due 6 months after the end of the financial period |
| VAT | 25% standard rate; registration compulsory above DKK 50,000 of sales in 12 months |
| Annual report | Filed with the Business Authority within 6 months of the year end, with no extension possible |
| Audit | Required unless the company stays under two of the three thresholds for two consecutive years |
| Dividend tax withheld | 27% for individuals living abroad unless net withholding is approved; 22% for company shareholders unless the conditions for 0% or 15% are met |
| Beneficial owner data | Checked at least once a year and every change registered as soon as possible |
Late annual reports can lead to a levy on the management and, in the end, to compulsory dissolution, so the calendar matters even for a company that has not started trading.
Since a digital formation is normally completed within a day, a ready-made company does not save time for a founder who has MitID and can pay the capital to a company or lawyer account. It earns its place in narrower situations: the founders have no CPR number or eID and would rather not use the postal route; the capital cannot be paid in before the two-week deadline; or a counterparty gives weight to an earlier incorporation date, which the CVR shows to anyone. Taking over an existing company is still a series of filings with the same identity checks, explained on our page on ready-made shelf companies in Denmark.
We can form a new ApS or supply a ready-made one, draft the founding document, the articles and the owner filings, and prepare the registration on virk.dk. We also help prepare the bank application and, where we have a working contact at a suitable bank, make an introduction, with the bank alone deciding. Danish law allows a nominee shareholder, and we arrange one only through a provider registered with the Danish Business Authority under the Anti-Money Laundering Act; the nominee is then shown in the public register of legal owners, and you are registered as the company’s beneficial owner. For the wider picture see our Denmark country page, the Denmark overview (in Russian) and our guide to off-the-shelf companies.
Yes. The Business Authority sets no nationality or residence requirement for founders, and none applies to the owners or the direktion of an ApS. The practical hurdles lie elsewhere: the digital filing needs a Danish CPR number with MitID or an eIDAS eID, people without a CPR number file identity data and a photo of their passport, and the Authority can ask for identity to be verified in person when in doubt. The company also needs a Danish address where it can be reached.
The Business Authority states that most registrations are checked automatically and completed straight after filing, and gives 24 hours as its current status for starting an ApS or A/S. Cases picked out for manual handling take 2 to 4 weeks, and filings on the paper company forms 4 to 6 weeks. VAT or employer registration adds time at the Danish Tax Agency. Drafting the documents and paying in the capital come before any of this.
ApS is short for anpartsselskab, which the Business Authority translates as private limited liability company. Its capital is divided into shares called anparter, and the owners are liable only with what they contributed. An ApS may not offer its shares to the public except in narrow cases set out in the Companies Act and cannot list them on a regulated market; that is what the larger aktieselskab, the A/S, is for.
Not by law. The capital may be paid to an account in the company’s name or to a lawyer, and the proof can be a bank record, an extract of a lawyer’s client account, a lawyer’s declaration or an auditor’s declaration. A bank account is needed afterwards for trading, and Danish banks set their own onboarding conditions, which are often built around MitID and Danish identity documents.
Yes, though not through the self-service alone. Start virksomhed on virk.dk requires a CPR number with MitID or an eIDAS eID. Without them a founder can have a representative file for the company, or declare that they have no CPR number and be exempted from digital filing, after which the Business Authority’s company forms are used by post. Once registered, the company itself acts through MitID Erhverv.
Corporation tax is 22% of taxable profit, with the tax return usually due six months after the financial period ends. VAT is 25%, and registration becomes compulsory once sales pass DKK 50,000 in twelve months. Dividends paid to an individual living abroad carry 27% withholding unless the Danish Tax Agency has approved net withholding, while company shareholders face 22% unless the conditions for 0% or 15% are met.
Planning a Danish ApS? Tell us who the founders and managers will be and whether they have MitID, and ask what the formation would need, through our contact page or on Telegram or WhatsApp at +48 663 247 166.