What it means to be self-employed

Your activities define whether you are self-employed or not. An activity is considered self-employment if the purpose is to generate a financial return, and you are - or have been - personally involved. 

In addition, at least one of the following conditions must be met: 

• The activity is registered with a CVR or an SE number, or the activity is legally required to be registered in the Central Business Register. However, please note that if income from an activity is taxed as employee income, the activity is not considered self-employment but salaried work, unless you are considered employed in your own business – see item 3 below. 
• The profit or loss from the activity is taxed as business income. You work in a company where you have decisive influence, regardless of whether you receive a salary. You have decisive influence if you or your spouse, alone or together with immediate family members (including your or your spouse’s children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents and siblings), own: at least 50% of the share capital* at least 50% of the share capital voting rights a controlling share of the company’s capital, or* a controlling share of the company’s voting rights 
• You carry out the activity as an assisting spouse without a wage agreement under the Danish Withholding of Tax Act (Kildeskatteloven) 
• The activity generates B-income that is part of a business. 

Income from self-employment may count towards the accrual of unemployment benefit eligibility and the calculation of your unemployment benefit rate. 

However, any hours spent on your own business while receiving supplementary unemployment benefits will be deducted from your benefits, and your remaining eligibility for each week in which benefits are paid will be reduced. 

As a rule, you will have employee status if: 

• You are under the supervision of an employer and receive instructions on how to perform your work. 
• You are obliged to carry out the work personally. 
• Your employer pays contributions to the Labour Market Supplementary Pension (ATP) scheme. 
• You are covered by the Danish Holiday Act (Ferieloven). 
• You are covered by the Danish Salaried Employees Act (Funktionærloven). 
• You are covered by the Danish Workers’ Compensation Act (Arbejdsskadeloven). 
• You are eligible for Employee Guarantee Fund (Lønmodtagernes Garantifond) coverage if your employer goes bankrupt. 

Income and hours you receive as an employee can be counted towards earning unemployment benefits eligibility and calculating your unemployment benefit rate.

However, any hours worked or income earned will be deducted from your unemployment benefits, and your eligibility for supplementary benefits will be reduced for each week in which you work reduced hours and receive supplementary unemployment benefits.

A commercial activity is considered asset management when you meet one of the following conditions: 

• You receive rental income from leasing real estate if you do not have personal work related to the leasing. 
• You passively own a business and do not have personal work in the business. 
• You own a leased-out business. 
• You manage your own assets, including buying and selling shares, equity interests, bonds or similar securities. 
• You have only limited personal work (i.e., no more than five hours per month) associated with a commercial activity. 

You cannot include income from asset management to qualify for unemployment benefits or for calculating an unemployment benefit rate, as you can with your income from self-employment. 

However, income or hours spent on asset management are not deducted from your unemployment benefits, and you do not use up part of your eligibility for 30 weeks of supplementary unemployment benefits.

An activity is considered leisure employment (fritidsbeskæftigelse) if it doesn’t fall under any of the following: Salaried work, self-employment or asset management.  It may also count as leisure employment if one of the following applies: 

You run a farm on a part-time basis on the following conditions: 

• You live on the farm. 
• You started the part-time farm before becoming unemployed. 
• The part-time farm isn’t expanded while you’re unemployed unless it is due to legal requirements beyond your control. 
• You do not employ any staff, except for one employee or occasional assistance from a contractor or machinery service. 
• You’re available for full-time salaried work. 
• You’ve worked an average of at least 130 hours per month during the six months leading up to your unemployment, or you meet the income requirement for the most recently completed income year before your unemployment (at least DKK 273,504 in 2025), during which you did not receive unemployment benefits. 
• You own a single rental property with up to ten units and only perform limited personal work, such as administration, minor repairs, or caretaker duties. 
• You own a protected forest (fredskov) of no more than five hectares located on the grounds of your permanent or holiday residence. 
• You own a wind turbine, solar panel system or similar renewable energy source and only do minor personal tasks associated with it. 
• You keep bees (up to twenty hives). 

You can’t use income from leisure employment to qualify for unemployment benefits or to calculate your benefit rate the same way you can with the income generated from self-employment. 

However, your leisure work hours will be deducted from your unemployment benefits. On the other hand, it won’t use up your 30 weeks of supplementary unemployment benefits, so you’re free to continue the activity for the entire duration of your unemployment benefit period.