Denmark Taxation

Overview
Denmark has had many different taxes. For genealogical purposes, Danish tax records are most likely to be helpful from 1660 until 1700. After this time, the tax records become more sporadic and provide less information while other records such as parish and probate records are more likely to survive and have good quality.

The following information is quite long and goes into a lot of detail. To explain it in one sentence, the two lists most likely to be helpful are the extra tax lists and the consumption, family and domestic servant tax lists. They are most likely to be helpful between 1660 and 1700. You need to use both lists together.

Normal Taxes
The Normal taxes were those that were required year after year. Below is a list of them. Although the normal taxes would logically seem like the place to start when using Danish tax records, such is usually not the case. The crown only collected the tax directly from and created records when the tax was paid by freeholders or those who leased their land from the king. After 1660 most peasants leased their land from noblemen. The nobles were responsible for gathering the tax from their tenants and then turning it over to the crown. Records of this process were usually not preserved. Palle Ove Christiansen has estimated that a meticulous estate could expect to extract perhaps 80% of the taxes owed. The rest they would have to pay themselves.


 * Ledning: This tax was only paid by freeholding farmers. The amount was small and did not


 * Stud (Stød, Støtte): This was a tax to the king that replaced the old “natholdspligt” in the 1200’s.


 * Summer and Winter Tax: These taxes were required two times per year but were small.


 * Innæ: Tenant farmers were required to support the king and his entourage when they were in the local area.

Fief Accounts (Lensregnskaber)
Prior to 1660, Denmark was divided into fiefs (len) instead of counties (amter). These are the largest surviving accounts from 1559 until 1610. In the beginning of the 1700's it was decided to keep records from 1610 onwards and only keep earlier records if they were relevant to Denmark's history because they dealt with wars and things like that, some random records have survived and Ringsted is the county from which the most documentation has survived.

These records are extremely difficult to use and not intuitive. There certainly are some gems in them, but after 12 years of Danish research this author has been unable to figure them out on his own and has also been unable to find a published guide to explain what taxes were taken when or how to use them. If you have that information, please add it here.

The 1660 Census of Peasants
After losing Scania to Sweden, the Danish state was bankrupt. An emergency extra tax was levied that each rural person above the age of 12 was required to pay. The tax is mostly organized by the fief's that existed until 1662, but the fief's Dueholm, Vestervig, and Ørum are all just together as "Morsland" and the staff of Copenhagen University are in their own section. The tax is a valuable resource and often names each person paying the tax and states the relationship to the head of household, but in some places only tally marks are given to everyone besides the head of household. There is no pattern to what information is given at which places and the only way to know is to check. Records from some counties have been lost.

Extra Taxes (Ekstraskatmandtaler)
Far more useful to genealogists are the extra taxes. These were levied in order to raise additional funds due to causes such as times of war, fires, the need to rebuild cities, or even for princesses’ dowries. Depending on the particular tax, some of these applied to everyone in the country while others applied only to specific classes of people. In all cases, children younger than 10-12 (depending on the time period) were exempt.

These tax lists are available on microfilm at the Family History Library and have been digitized so they can be viewed from your computer at home. However, they are not indexed and will probably not be indexed any time in the near future. You have to read them yourself, but you can do so at home. To find them, search for the desired county in the FamilySearch Catalog. They will be recorded under “taxation” and are often included along with the Kontributionsregnskaber and Familie og Folkeskatregnskaber. Remember that the counties were reorganized in 1793-1794 so you will need to look under the name of the old county.

Each time an extra tax was levied, the parish priest first needed to compile and turn in a list of everyone in his parish who owed the tax. This would be used to make sure no one avoided the tax. When the tax was collected, the parish lists would be combined by the county clerk into one large listThe county clerk’s list will be easier to read, but will only name the head of household and provide tallies for the other people in the home who owe the tax. Each parish will be listed subsequentially. The pages will all be the same size, and the writing formulaic.

Sometimes the præstemandtaller will also be included. If so they are usually found right before or after the county clerk’s list. Because each priest made his list independently. Their lists vary in both style and quality. Some lists may be on large paper, others on long and skinny paper, others on small square shaped pages. Their handwriting varies but often it is harder to read than the clerk’s copy. This could be because the priest went door to door taking notes whereas the county clerk was sitting at a desk copying the information the priest’s had given to him.

Some priest’s only provided the minimum information so their lists have the head of households and tally marks only. Other priest’s chose to name each person to whom a tally mark belonged and give their relationship to the head of household. Others nearly created censuses by writing the names of everyone above the age of 10 or 12. Furthermore, the priests can be inconsistent over time. One year a priest might provide minimal information. The next year that same priest could provide incredible levels of detail.

Worst case scenario you can find the head of household over and over on the tax lists and try to study the tally marks that appear for them to guess who else is present. Best case scenario, you could get the names and relationships of everyone above the age of 10 in the parish. When doing research between 1660 and 1711 it is recommended to check every one of these tax lists even though finding them is time consuming. Even in the worst of cases these records are at least as good as the 1790 US census.

List of Extra Taxes:


 * 1664: In order to pay princess Anna Sophies’ dowry, a princess-tax (prinsessestyr) was passed. This tax was a combination of hartkorns, gage, and person taxes, from which the regular peasant was exempt. Of similar character were the 1668, 1670, 1680, and 1749 taxes.


 * 1668: Similar to the princess-tax in 1664.


 * 1670: Similar to the princess-taxes in 1664 and 1668.


 * 1674: A Copper-Tax.


 * 1676-1679: A tax to support the military. Like the princess taxes, only affected people of income, wealth, fortune, rank, or office.


 * 1677: A Chimney and Cattle Tax (Ildsted og Kvægskatten). This is the first tax list that will name most people in rural Denmark. It is the first list you are likely to find your ancestor on.


 * 1678: A Poll and Cattle Tax (Kop og Kvæg-Skat). The compiled list will include the name of the head of household and record whether there is a spouse, and how many other people, such as children and farm hands are in the home along with the number of animals.


 * 1680: A princess-tax to pay for Ulrika Eleonoras’s dowry. Similar to the 1664 tax. Most people will not be on this list.


 * 1682: Poll Tax (Kopskat) decreed 11 November 1682, to be paid 11 December 1682 and 11 March 1683


 * 1683: Poll Tax decreed 14 September 1683, to be paid 11 November 1683


 * 1684: Poll Tax decreed 16 August 1684, to be paid 29 September and end of December 1684


 * 1685: Poll Tax decreed 11 December 1685, to be paid 1 January and 1 March 1686


 * 1687: Poll and Cattle Tax to be paid 30 March 1687 and 11 June 1687


 * 1688: Poll and Fireplace tax decreed 3 January 1688, to be paid 11 March and 11 June 1688


 * 1689: Poll and Fireplace tax 2nd account paid 5 February- 9 July 1689


 * 1690: Poll and Fireplace (Kop og Ildsted-Skat) tax decreed 28 September 1690, to be paid 11 December 1690 and 11 March 1691.


 * 1692: Poll and Fireplace tax decreed 16 February 1692 to be paid in three payments: 30 May (1/4), 30 August (1/4), and 30 November (1/2).


 * 1699-1700: Two taxes:

1) A Poll Tax to be paid on 31 December 1699 and 15 February 1700

2) Employer’s Tax List (folkeløn) prescribed 24 January 1699. A list of all the men with hired help.

After 1699, the majority of the rural population drops off the lists. You may find your ancestor on a later list, but if not it is not out of the ordinary.


 * 1704-1705: Poll Tax decreed 9 July 1704, to be paid 11 December 1704 and 11 December 1705.


 * 1710: A Luxury Tax on things such as sedan chairs, wigs, etc., as well as an employer’s tax. To be paid 22 September 1710.


 * 1711: A Poll and Horse Tax (kop og heste-skat).


 * 1713: Follows the same pattern as 1699 and 1710 employer’s tax. Prescribed 20 January 1713.


 * 1714: A 2% inheritance tax. In Denmark, a man was considered a minor until he was 25, a woman until she married. If a minor inherited a guardian was appointed to manage the finances until they became of age. If when the minor came of age and was ready to assume control of the capital, said capital was worth more than 200 rigsdaler then 2% of it was taxed. This tax lists the name of the heir, how much they inherited, who they inherited it from, the relationship between the two, and how much tax was due. Excellent information that, unfortunately, only covers a small minority of the population.


 * 1717: A tax on embroidered and puffy clothing.


 * 1727-1728: A tax to rebuild Viborg after the great fire in 1726.


 * 1729-1731: A tax to rebuild Copenhagen after the great fire in 1728.


 * 1743: A combination of a wealth, income, poll, horse, and luxury tax. This tax only applied in the cities and among the wealthier countrymen.


 * 1749: A Princess Tax to pay for Princess Louise’s dowry. Louise had had an affair and possibly a child with an official from the noble Ahlefeldt family. The official was imprisoned, and Louise was hastily married to Ernest Frederik III, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen. In order to calm the scandal, a large dowry was given which resulted in this princess-tax.


 * 1757: Similar to the 1743 tax. Also, included those which previously paid the hartkorn and rank-tax.


 * 1762-1812: A Poll Tax. See below for more information.


 * 1764-1968: A tax on those who held a social rank.


 * 1768-1770: A Salt-Tax.


 * 1768-1770: A tax was imposed on the wages and other income of clergy and secular officers, as well as on pensions and pardons. It was supposed to last for two years but was extended in 1770 until “we graciously indicate otherwise.” The rate was 10% of the income of the clergy, while the secular officials were taxed progressively.


 * 1768-1813: 1768, also introduced the so-called “quarter-percent tax,” which in effect was two separate taxes: a mark-up of 1/4% of the hartkorn and 1/4% of the mortgage sums. The latter was simply charged by the debtors deducting 1/4% of the interest rate, which was usually 4%, so that the lender now only got 3.75% interest. The one-fourth percent tax was abolished by Struense but reinstated by the ordinance of 17 June 1773. The taxation of the mortgage sums was abolished on 4 September 1809, provided that all creditors pay a once-for-all reimbursement of 2% of the capital. The quarter percent tax on the hartkorn was abolished on July 9, 1813, as all eighty old hartkorn taxes went into the reformed possession, utility and use tax of real estate from 1802.


 * 1770-1845: In 1770, the difference between the tax on clergy and secular officers was abolished so that the clergy were also subjected to the more lenient, progressive scale. The lowest incomes were exempt, incomes of 100-150 national dollars were taxed at 2%, incomes of 300-350 national dollars were taxed at 6%, while incomes over 500 national dollars were taxed at 10%. On the other hand, the officials no longer had to pay the employment tax for the unemployed. The additional injunction, later called the percent tax or official tax, was not repealed until 8 January 1845.


 * 1791-1803: A tax on servant boys.

1762-1812 Poll Tax

This tax started on 23 September 1762, due to threat of war from Tsar Peter III. The war never came to fruition, but the preparations were expensive and greatly increased the national debt. When the tax was initially created, no one expected that it would exist for 50 years and by this definition it can be hard to believe that it was categorized as an “extra tax.” For many people it was effectively an ordinary tax because they paid it their entire lives. The 1762 tax was a simple poll tax. The amount was 1 rigsdaler yearly per person over 12 years old. If someone was too poor or unable to pay the tax, one of the wealthier citizens had to pay on their behalf. The tax became very unpopular and the estate owners in particular hated it as they were responsible to pay for several of their laborers who couldn’t. Bornholm, which usually got away with half-payments, had their amount reduced by half in 1763. They paid ½ rigsdaler or 4 shillings a month. Norway was excused from the tax starting in 1772.

Due to protests, a new regulation was passed on 17 January 1764 which was designed to especially lessen the burden on the common people and the poor in the country. Tenant farmers, cottars, and lodgers no longer had to pay for children under 16 years old. Additionally, a special rank-tax was placed in its stead. The special rank tax also had a long life. In 1870, it lapsed in cases where rank was associated with office, but only at the 1968 withholding tax law did the rank tax disappear completely.

In order to make sure the tax was properly extracted; a whole system was set up. In the country, parish priests were to create a list of everyone in their parish who was eligible. These lists were to be submitted to the county officer who then to make a general census. Furthermore, these were to be updated every month with lists of additions and subtractions (tilgangs og afgangslister) due to people be coming of age, moving in or out, or dying. Unfortunately, the county extra tax lists from these years on microfilm include only statistical information. The films will list every parish in Denmark and give statistics based on the minister’s lists of the number of men and women of various ages. This provides valuable statistical information, however, as genealogists we want more.

Original ministers’ lists for the 1762 census and subsequent in and out going lists may be preserved for some areas. A search for any of these still existing should be made. They may also be found in the surviving estate archives (godsarkiver). For example, there are two packets listed in the Roeptorf Estate archive in Odense Landarkivet for Ekstraskattsmandtaller from 1764-1782.

The 1762 tax list was also made for all territories belonging to Denmark including Norway and Schleswig-Holstein. Many of these have been extracted and published. The tax lists from Østfold County of Norway have mostly been extracted and published by Guri Isaksen. Lists from Telemark (by Nils Johan Stoa) and Rogaland counties in Norway have also been published. The 1762 tax list from Iceland has been published both in English and in Icelandic. These sources often list the names of each person over 12 by their residence sometimes even listing age and relationships.

Koldinghus County

The 1762 tax is especially helpful in Koldinghus county. In this county, the lists for the first few months of the tax have been well preserved. The names of each head of household are provided, and tally marks and relationships are given for all other people above the age of 12. It is like a census of lower quality taken 15 years before the 1787 census.

Schleswig-Holstein

The 1762 census and subsequent monthly lists for Schleswig-Holstein are found in the national archives (Rigsarkivet) of Denmark. These are in 216 large, brittle volumes under the title Rensburgische Steuer-Kasse Rechnung 1762-1845 (Rendsburger Tax-Fund Accounts 1762-1845). It is hoped that in the future funds can be gathered to get preservation copies (sikkerhedskopier) of this collection on microfilm.

The Consumption, Family, and Domestic Servant Tax
The consumption tax was an indirect tax in that it was levied on specific goods. It was first granted introduced in 1657, in order to help pay for the war Denmark had just declared on Sweden and was supposed to only last for its duration. After Denmark lost the war, there was even greater need for the tax and it ultimately went on to become one of the state’s most important taxes and had revenue that even rivaled that brought in from the tolls. In September of 1660 it was suggested that more goods be added to the tax and the rates raised. The nobility and university opposed the tax, but the cities and clergy supported it. The new tax was passed but quickly became unpopular with in the cities because it ended up hitting them the hardest.

In 1662 the tax was canceled everywhere except Copenhagen and was replaced by the new cadastral tax. This tax was also unpopular, and a mild version of the consumption tax returned in 1671 so that the cadastral tax could be eased. Copenhagen ended up having both the old and the new versions of the consumption tax. Some of the various items that fell under the consumption tax were as follows:

1. Formalingsafgift: a tax on grain that was ground in the village mills

2. Portkonsumptionen: a tax on a long list of goods that the peasants brought to the towns such as food supplies, firewood, hay, straw, hides, and building materials

3. Udskænkningsafgift: a tax on foreign beer and wine which further had an excise tax that was collected when the tolls were paid

4. Græsepenge: a yearly tax on cattle and horses, that people in the towns had grazing on grass.

5. Kopulationsafgift: a tax on marriages.

6. Milepenge: a tax on wagon-men

When the tax was brought back in 1671-1672, a tax on domestic children over the age of 15 and domestic servants (Familie og Folkeskat) was added. This was supposed to be a tax on expenditure but in reality, it was a poll tax. In 1688 the rates on goods that the “poor do not need as much” was raised and wine, brandy, salt, and tobacco were added to the list of taxable goods as well. By an ordinance dated 31 December 1700 the consumption tax codified and the tax was not changed until 1760 in the country and 1778 in the towns. After that, the taxes were changed a few times but were significantly simplified in 1837 and was removed entirely in 1851.4 For the genealogist, these tax lists are most likely to be helpful from 1671 when the tax on domestic servants and children was added and up until 1700. During this time, many population counts (præstemandtaller) are provided as an appendix to these records. Like other præstemandtaller, these lists vary in information and quality. Some of these lists only list the households that qualify for the tax, some simply give the number of the servants or household’s members, while others provide each person’s name. Unfortunately, the population counts are missing in many cases and after 1700 they are sporadic.

The Marriage Tax
The consumption tax on weddings - the marriage tax - has a particularly great family history significance if your ancestor was not a peasant (peasants did not pay the marriage tax) and especially if he or she lives in Copenhagen. Outside Copenhagen, it was levied until 1792, but in Copenhagen, it existed as late as 1869. From the time before 1700, however, the accounts for the marriage tax were largely lost, and for the period 1700-1760 it belongs to those in general leased taxes, for which there are virtually no detailed accounts. For the period 1761-92, on the other hand, are a valuable source that not only replaces lost marriage records, but also has significance, even though the parish records exist because they regularly provide more information than these for example, it is very frequent that the accounts, unlike parish records, will provide the brides father's name, position and residence.

The Chimney Tax
The extra taxes were replaced in 1812 by a chimney tax. This tax was levied until 1815. This tax has good coverage for the whole country. It only names the head of households and does not have tally marks for other members. Some lists are organized by parish while others are organized by estate and then by parish. In the latter example, if a parish had multiple estates in it (and most did) then the parish can appear throughout the lists multiple times. While this can make searching the list harder, it makes it a way to figure out which estate your ancestor leased land from. This is critcle to having success in pre-1787 research.

The 1812-1815 chimney tax is especially helpful in burned parishes that do not have parish records before 1814. It is essentially a census of the head of households about halfway between the 1801 and 1834 censuses and right at the start of when the parish records do begin. Burned parishes are where you are most likely to need this source.

While the extra taxes, kontribution taxes, and consumption, family, and domestic servant taxes were cataloged by the old county in the FamilySearch catalog, this tax was cataloged simply under Denmark. To find it search for "Denmark" in the catalog, and then go to "Taxation" it is the option called "Ildsted- og mobilieskat, 1812-1815." All of the counties are under this one option.