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Denmark raises tax deduction for commuters amid high fuel prices

Ritzau/The Local
Ritzau/The Local - [email protected]
Denmark raises tax deduction for commuters amid high fuel prices
Denmark is to give higher tax subsidies to commuters due to high fuel prices. The cost of a litre of petrol exceeded 16 kroner in March 2022 and is currently around 15 kroner. Photo: Bo Amstrup/Ritzau Scanpix

The Danish government’s tax council on Tuesday decided to increase the rate for tax deductions given to commuters, due to high fuel prices.

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The government organ Skatterådet, a tax council whose responsibilities include deciding certain subsidy rates, agreed on Tuesday to increase a tax deduction given to commuters who travel over a certain distance to work.

People who travel between 25 and 120 kilometres to and from work will now be able to claim 2.16 kroner for each kilometre they travel. That is an increase of 18 øre (0.18 kroner) on the existing rate.

The decision was confirmed my Skatterådet in a press statement.

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The commuter deduction, termed kørselsfradraget in Danish, is designed to cover the cost of travelling to and from work over a set minimum distance. It applies to rail and car journeys alike. The deduction is always calculated based on kilometres travelled if the journey was made by car, even if it was actually made by train.

Commuters can claim the deduction if they travel over 24 kilometres to get to and from work over (12 kilometres each way). 

An equivalent tax deduction for commuters who use their private vehicles to get to work, the befordringsgodtgørelse, will also be subject to increased rates settled on by the tax council, with the rate raised by 19 øre to 3.70 kroner per kilometre, though this will not be applied retroactively through the tax year.

READ ALSO: Four ways to (legally) lower your tax bill in Denmark

Only twice previously in the last 20 years have the tax deductions been extraordinarily changed in the middle of the tax year, Skatterådet said in the statement.

They are usually set in November based on projections of the price of fuel throughout the coming year.

Recent months have seen the cost of both petrol and diesel increase significantly, caused in part by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Prime Minister Metter Frederiksen earlier this week said she wanted the tax subsidies to be raised, while the opposition Liberal party also backed the decision in comments to news wire Ritzau. Liberal tax spokesperson Louise Schack Elholm said “We would naturally have like it to be more. But this was what could be managed”.

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