Denmark moves sibling gifts into gift-tax circle from 1 January 2027

From 1 January 2027, a gift between siblings given on or after that date falls under Denmark's gift-tax regime instead of personal income tax.Skat Siblings (søskende) join the closest person circle (den nærmeste personkreds) in section 22(1) of the boafgiftsloven (BAL, the act on duty on estates and gifts) for gifts given on or after that dateSkat, so the recipient is taxed under the gift rules rather than declaring the gift as incomeSkat.

A sibling may receive gifts given on or after 1 January 2027 up to the tax-free basic amount (det skattefrie grundbeløb) in a calendar year with no dutySkat; any amount above the basic amount bears gift tax (gaveafgift) at the rate the act sets for the closest circleSkat. The page does not state the 2027 basic amount or the gift-tax rate for sibling gifts. For orientation, the 2026 tax-free amount for the existing closest circle is DKK 80,600 at a 15 % rate; those are 2026 figures for the current circle, not the 2027 terms for siblings.

Gifts between siblings given up to and including 31 December 2026 keep the old treatment: no gift notification form (gaveanmeldelsesblanket) and no gift tax.Skat The recipient instead enters the gift's value on the annual statement (årsopgørelse) in rubric 20 (Anden personlig indkomst, other personal income).Skat That income-tax treatment also continues to apply to gifts to friends, acquaintances and more distant family such as nephews and nieces (nevøer og niecer). Siblings who shared a residence in the 2 years before the gift was given already fall inside the closest circle under BAL section 22(1)(d)Retsinformation, so the 2027 change matters for siblings without that shared residenceSkat.

For a sibling gift given on or after 1 January 2027 that exceeds the basic amount, the ordinary gift-notification rules apply: giver and recipient must notify Skattestyrelsen no later than 1 May of the year after the gift was received, the gift tax is payable the day the notification is sent, both parties are responsible for the notification and must sign it, and the recipient is primarily liable for the duty with the giver jointly and severally liable if the recipient does not pay. No notification form is filed for a sibling gift given up to and including 31 December 2026.

Legal basis: boafgiftsloven sections 22(1), 23 and 26 on the tax-free circle, the gift-tax charge and the notification duty.