Unemployment benefits and partial self-employment
You can receive unemployment benefits (dagpenge) while running your own business as partial self-employment (bibeskæftigelse), but only if you’ve received prior approval from us.
If you want to run a business while receiving unemployment benefits, you can do so as partial self-employment – but you’ll need our permission first. Once granted, this permission gives you the right to receive supplementary unemployment benefits (supplerende dagpenge) for up to 30 weeks.
Read the definition of partial self-employment
If, on the other hand, you’re employed part-time as a freelancer, you are eligible for supplementary unemployment benefits.
Read about supplementary unemployment benefits
Working in your business while unemployed
You’re free to decide when and how many hours you want to work in your business. However, you must still be fully available to the labour market and not contractually obligated to work on your business during daytime hours.
If you previously ran your business full-time
If you were self-employed full-time immediately before becoming unemployed (ledig), you may not start a new business until at least six months have passed since you ceased your previous business activities. If you restart your business before the six months are up, you’ll lose your eligibility for unemployment benefits until the full six months have passed.
How to apply for benefits when you are partially self-employed
To receive unemployment benefits, you must fill out an application for unemployment benefits (ledighedserklæring) – this also serves as your application for unemployment benefits. The form is available under “Forms” when you log in to Mit AKA.
To be granted permission to run your own business as partial self-employment while receiving unemployment benefits, you’ll also need to complete the following forms on Mit AKA:
Working in your spouse’s business
If you work or start working in your spouse’s business, you’ll generally be considered self-employed – even if you don’t own any part of the business – unless you’re a salaried employee in accordance with section 25A of the Danish Withholding of Tax Act (Kildeskatteloven).
You can read more at the bottom of the page in the section called ”Du kan træde ud af virksomheden, selvom den kører videre.” (You can withdraw from the business even if it continues to be active).
You may only close a business once while being unemployed
You’re only allowed to close a business once during a single unemployment benefit period. This means you will no longer be eligible for benefits the second time you close a business, regardless of how long you have run it.
It also means that if you close your business and later resume operations, you’ll no longer be eligible for unemployment benefits once you’ve used up the remainder of your 30 weeks of supplementary unemployment benefits.
However, if you close your business in connection with starting a new unemployment benefit period, this closure won’t count as your first.
You can receive benefits for 30 weeks
If you’re running a business as partial self-employment, you can receive unemployment benefits for up to 30 weeks.
Once you’ve received unemployment benefits for 30 weeks while running your business, you’ll need to choose whether to close the business or stop receiving unemployment benefits.
If you choose to close the business, the 30-week rule no longer applies. You can continue to receive unemployment benefits on standard terms once you’ve sent us the official closure certificate from SKAT and the Danish Business Authority (Erhvervsstyrelsen).
The 30 weeks count as long as you’re receiving unemployment benefits from us. If you prefer not to close your business, you can apply to have it reclassified as either an asset management business or a leisure employment.
Read about asset management and leisure employment
You can see how many weeks you have left on the 30-week arrangement by checking Dagpengetælleren. And of course, you’re always welcome to give us a call if you need guidance.
Leisure employment instead of partial self-employment
Your partial self-employment may be reclassified as leisure employment. This applies if the activity isn’t considered salaried employment, self-employment, or asset management.
Read the definitions and rules that govern leisure employment
Earn a new right to 30 weeks of unemployment benefits
You can become eligible for another 30 weeks of supplementary benefits if you meet one of these conditions:
- Within 12 consecutive months, you’ve worked for six months with more than 146 hours per month, and the hours have been reported to SKAT
- Within one assessment year, you’ve had a total income (A and B income plus business profits) of at least DKK 273,504 (2025) and received no unemployment benefits that year.
Extend your eligibility for supplementary unemployment benefits
You may be able to extend your supplementary unemployment benefit period if you haven’t yet earned new eligibility for unemployment benefits.
Once you’ve used your 30 weeks of supplementary unemployment benefits, you can extend the period by four weeks if, within the past 12 months, you met one of the following criteria:
- You’ve worked more than 146 hours in one month.
- You’ve worked more than 34 hours per week for four weeks.
- You’ve worked more than 68 hours over two separate 14-day periods.
- You’ve worked full-time in your own business for one whole month without receiving unemployment benefits, and the business has been registered in the CVR register for at least six months by the time your 30 weeks of supplementary unemployment benefits are exhausted.
You can extend your supplementary unemployment benefit eligibility by four, eight or 12 weeks.
Benefit deductions for working in your own business
Each month, you’ll need to report all the hours you’ve worked in your business as partial self-employment on your benefit card (ydelseskort).
Your unemployment benefits will be reduced based on the total number of hours you’ve spent on business-related tasks, including things like administration and transport. So, if you’ve worked seven hours in your business, seven hours are deducted from your unemployment benefits.
Closing your business as partial self-employment
If you wish to cease running your business as partial self-employment, you’ll need to submit documentation of closure to us from both SKAT and the Danish Business Authority.
You can also close your business through, for example, selling or leasing it out.
Read more about your options for closing your business in the other sections on this page.
You can leave a business even if it continues
If you’ve been running the business together with co-owners, including your spouse, you can leave the business even if it continues.
The reason for leaving must be one of the following:
- You and your spouse/partner have separated.
- Your specific work tasks in the business no longer exist.
- Your work tasks have been taken over by another employee (not your spouse, partner or underage children).
If you’re working in your spouse’s business without being a co-owner, you’ll be considered either an assisting spouse (medarbejdende ægtefælle) or a salaried employee.
If you’ve entered into a wage agreement with your spouse in accordance with section 25A of the Danish Withholding Tax Act, you’re considered an assisting spouse with an employment contract. In that case, you don’t need to submit documentation showing you’ve left the business, but you won’t be able to avoid the three-week non-eligibility period (venteperiode).
If you’re considered an employee in your spouse’s business, the rules for employees will apply.
If you’re an assisting spouse without a wage agreement under section 25A of the Danish Withholding Tax Act, you’re considered self-employed and subject to the rules that apply to self-employed individuals.
You can apply for unemployment benefits when leaving your spouse’s business if your spouse continues to run the company.
You’ll need to submit a solemn declaration (AK029) confirming that you no longer work in your spouse’s company. The declaration must be made jointly by you and your spouse. Your exit from the company cannot be recognised before we receive the signed declaration.
Once you’ve left your spouse’s business, you must no longer be registered as an assisting spouse for tax purposes or receive any salary from the company.