The Danish pension and insurance industry paid DKK 250m in the first year of the country’s special tax on the financial sector, according to analysis by Insurance and Pension Denmark (I&P Denmark).

The special tax on the financial sector was introduced in 2023, which means the industry pays more corporate tax than other companies in the country. In 2023, financial companies paid 25.2 per cent corporation tax, while non-financial companies pay 22 per cent. For 2024, and in the future, the rate will rise to 26 per cent for financial companies.

I&P Denmark CEO, Kent Damsgaard, argued that the special tax is “unfair and deeply inappropriate” on Danish insurance and pension customers.

"The special tax was announced as a social contribution from the financial sector to finance early retirement (Arne pension), but there are absolutely no good arguments for why the insurance and pension industry should be taxed extra hard," Damsgaard said.

He continued: "We can see that fewer Danes are actually taking advantage of early retirement than expected. This is another reason why it would be obvious to remove the special tax, as all companies in Denmark should of course pay the same rate of corporation tax.”

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