Car in Denmark

As a general rule, if you live in Denmark, your car must also be registered in Denmark. If you live in Denmark and own a Danish-registered car, you must also take out statutory third-party liability insurance in Denmark.

Registering a car when you move to Denmark

If you move to Denmark, your car or motorcycle must be registered in Denmark and have Danish number plates. You must pay registration tax to obtain Danish number plates. Your vehicle must be registered within 30 days of your relocation to Denmark.

There are five steps involved in registering a vehicle:

1. Notify the Danish Motor Vehicle Agency.
2. Have your car or motorcycle inspected.
3. Request a valuation from the Danish Register of Motor Vehicles, or via a private valuation business.
4. Pay the registration tax. You can request quarterly payment of registration tax if your vehicle is only to be used for a limited period of time.
5. Register your vehicle with the Register of Motor Vehicles and buy new number plates.

You can read more about what you need to do at the website of the Danish Motor Vehicle Agency.

From an EU country

If you move to Denmark from another EU country, you do not usually have to pay customs duty on your vehicle. If you have any questions, you can contact the Danish Customs Agency.

From a non-EU country

When you import a vehicle to Denmark from a country outside the EU, e.g. from the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland or Norway, you generally have to pay customs duty and VAT. The duty is 10% and the VAT is 25% of the invoiced price, the freight of the vehicle outside the EU, plus costs. In some cases, for example if a vehicle is classed as household effects, the vehicle may be imported free of duty and VAT, or at a lower rate of duty or VAT.

You can in many cases obtain a refund of the registration tax if you take your vehicle out of Denmark and the vehicle is deregistered in the Register of Motor Vehicles. The export refund cannot exceed the registration tax originally paid on the vehicle. You can read more at the website of the Danish Motor Vehicle Agency.

As a general rule, you are not allowed to drive a vehicle with foreign number plates if you are resident in Denmark. If you move to Denmark and have a car with foreign plates, you must register the car in Denmark within 30 days of moving to the country.

If you live in several countries, the Danish Motor Vehicle Agency can determine where you are resident. If you are in doubt about how long you will be here or where you are resident, you can apply to the Danish Motor Vehicle Agency for permission to drive in Denmark on foreign number plates.

You are however allowed to drive on foreign number plates for a limited period of 30 days if you:

• Import a vehicle
• Have loaned a vehicle from a foreign car repair shop because your own car needs to be serviced abroad
• Need to test equipment for vehicles, or test drive a foreign-registered vehicle. The test must be of a professional nature – i.e. you cannot apply for permission if you wish, as a private individual, to test drive a vehicle that you are considering purchasing.

In these three cases, you must notify the Danish Motor Vehicle Agency via the form “Driving a vehicle with non-Danish plates in Denmark” at skat.dk before you cross the Danish border.

If you have a car, motorcycle or moped that is used on public roads, you are required by law to take out liability insurance on the vehicle. This insurance covers you if, as the owner or user of a vehicle, you cause damage or injury to others.

It is optional whether you wish to take out comprehensive insurance on your car for loss or damage, in addition to the liability insurance. However, if you have taken out a loan to buy the car or have bought it in instalments, the insurance company will usually require that the car is comprehensively insured.

You can read more about insurance at borger.dk and at Forsikringsoplysningen.

Your car must undergo periodic inspections (MOT tests). A periodic inspection is a test to ensure that your vehicle complies with the current rules for the approval and inspection of vehicles.

The two main purposes of vehicle inspection are to check:

• Road safety factors, such as the steering, tyres, lights, indicators, reflectors and load-bearing parts such as the suspension and shock absorbers
• Environmental factors, such as emissions of exhaust, carbon monoxide and noise.

How often your vehicle will require inspection will depend on the type of vehicle you have. An ordinary passenger car must for example undergo a periodic inspection four years after it has first been registered, and every two years thereafter.

The Danish Road Traffic Authority will send you a summons for a periodic inspection eight weeks before the inspection deadline. Once you have received a summons for a car inspection, you must contact an approved certification company yourself to carry out the inspection.

You must have a valid driving licence to drive a car, lorry, bus, moped or motorcycle in Denmark. You also need a special driving licence to drive with a large trailer. If you are 15, 16 or 17 years of age, you must have a driving licence to drive a small moped.

You can read about which driving licences are valid in Denmark, how you can obtain and renew a driving licence in Denmark, and how you can exchange a foreign driving licence for a Danish one, on the Info Norden page ‘Driving licence in Denmark’.

Speed limits

Ordinary speed limits apply to passenger cars, vans and motorcycles, and there are special rules for lorries, buses and passenger cars that have a trailer attached, such as a caravan. The general speed limits in Denmark are:

• 50 km/h in built-up areas
• 80 km/h outside built-up areas
• 130 km/h on motorways.

There may also be signs showing other speed limits that you must conform to.

Summer and winter tyres

There is no general legal requirement to use winter tyres in winter in Denmark. However, you may not continue driving on tyres that are clearly unsuitable for the weather and driving conditions. Studded tyres are permitted from 1 November to 15 April.

BAC limits

In Denmark, you must not drive if your blood alcohol content is greater than 0.5. You can be convicted of drink-driving even if your blood alcohol level is below 0.5, if the police assess that you cannot drive safely.

The BAC limit is 0.2 for new drivers with a normal car licence for the first three years after they have obtained a licence.

In Denmark, lorries weighing 12 tons or more and over must pay kilometre-based tolls on parts of the Danish road network. The toll depends, amongst other things, on how far the lorry travels and how much CO2 it emits.

All vehicles must also pay bridge tolls to cross the Great Belt Bridge and the Øresund Bridge.

If you have any questions about registering a car, registration tax or about using a foreign car in Denmark, you can contact the Danish Motor Vehicle Agency.

If you have questions about customs duties or VAT, contact the Danish Customs Agency.

If you have questions about periodic inspections, contact the Danish Road Traffic Authority.