Ports lose tax exemption from 2027, keep EUR 300,000 de minimis shelter

State, municipal and self-governing ports, and other tax-exempt ports, lose their corporate-tax exemption under bill L 39Retsinformation, tabled in the Folketing on 7 October 2026 by the Minister for Taxation and GrowthRetsinformation. The bill re-tables bill L 126, which lapsed at the general election. The European Commission regards the exemption as state aidRetsinformation and has asked Denmark to repeal itRetsinformation. The act would enter into force on 1 January 2027Retsinformation with effect for income years beginning that date or laterRetsinformation.

State and municipal ports, including municipal self-governing ports, become fully taxable under ordinary company-tax rules even without a separate taxable entityRetsinformation, through a new section 1(1)(2 k) of the Corporation Tax Act. Other ports fall under the liability provision matching their organisational form. Liability applies unless the port stays exempt under the de minimis exceptionRetsinformation.

Exemption survives only within Regulation (EU) 2023/2831Retsinformation: the tax that would have been paid counts as de minimis aid, and the port stays exempt only while that saving plus any other de minimis aid over the rolling three-year period does not exceed EUR 300,000Retsinformation (about DKK 2.24 million), corresponding at the 22 per cent rate to roughly DKK 10.2 million of taxable income. Once the ceiling is breached the port becomes taxable from the start of that income year, and re-entry to exemption needs three preceding income years inside the ceiling. Ports claiming the exception report annually to the tax administrationRetsinformation, which registers the aid in the Commission's central eAidRegister (eAIR)Retsinformation; until the register covers three years a solemn declaration is still required.

The saving is computed from accounts drawn up under the Financial Statements Act, with losses carried forward, or optionally as port operating income minus directly related operating costs excluding depreciation, certified with high assurance by an approved auditor. Group and municipal-ownership aggregation rules follow the single-undertaking concept, counting only undertakings without independent management together.

On transition, assets generally enter at market value. For depreciable infrastructure such as piers, quays, basins and associated excavations, riprap, quay walls, roads, docks, large silos, large harbour cranes and large oil and gas tanks, ports may instead use written-down replacement value, which then also serves as the acquisition price for real-estate gains. Converting a state or municipal port into a wholly owned, previously inactive public limited company can run tax-neutrally with pre-transition losses carried over, and exit back to exemption is treated as a deemed sale. The Depreciation Act gains harbour-basin excavations and riprap in section 14(3), and ports become eligible for ordinary depreciation from the transition values, so the estimated DKK 50 million permanent revenue builds up only over years, about DKK 5 million in 2027 rising linearly.

Legal basis: bill L 39 (Fremsat den 7. oktober 2026) amending the Corporation Tax Act (selskabsskatteloven), the Depreciation Act (afskrivningsloven), the Merger Tax Act, the Bankruptcy Tax Act and the Assessment Act; Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/2831 (de minimis-forordningen).