If you do not pay anything for receiving the shares, you are entitled to a taxable benefit in connection with the assignment of shares.

You will then be taxed as of the time you receive the shares.

It is the estimated fair value of the shares which is taxed upon assignment to you.

In newly established and non-listed companies, it can be difficult to determine the tax value.

The assessment may also depend on whether external investors are investing in the company as well as the prices paid by such possible investors for shares in the company.

The estimated fair value is taxed as personal income which means that ordinary income tax of up to 59% is to be paid.

We (PWC) basically believe that it can be justified that no labour market contribution (referred to below as AM-contribution) is to be paid, as it concerns transfer of rights and not payment for personal work.

However, this assessment is highly dependent on the wording of the agreements which transfer the inventions, and as a result we cannot dismiss that in some cases - based on actual circumstances - there may be a risk that the value will become subject to payment of AM-contribution of 8%.

As the AM-contribution is tax-deductible in connection with the calculation of income tax, the total efficient marginal tax percentage will be approximately 63% in these cases.

The tax is to be paid as ordinary tax owing no later than in the autumn of the year following the transfer.

In the income year when the shares are assigned to you, you should therefore pay special attention to tax owing.

If tax owing exceeds DKK 40,000, it is usually worthwhile to pay the excess amount before 31 December of the year in question as you thereby avoid having to pay additional interest.

If the amount is less than DKK 40,000, you may wait until 1 July of the year after the shares have been assigned to you to pay the entire tax amount.

Free transfer of shares to researchers