---

Hallo, is there anyone who can explain to me how stock options work
in denmark?

here is the context. American company, office in denmark.
Stock option offered to employees world wide. Different tax rules apply
in different countries.

What I hear about the rules in DK is so crazy that I refuse to believe them
and I turn to this forum for enlighment.
my understanding (I don't know much about this stuff) is that there
are three phases.

Granting = When they tell you how many stock options you'll be able to
vest at the end of a certain period (ex. 2000 after 4 years).

Vesting = when you are allowed to excercize your options (ex. 500 one year after
granting, 1000 after 2 years,....2000 after 4 years).

Excercizing = when you actually buy a share at the option price (ex: 20 dollars per share).

Now, One would expect that one would pay taxes when the options are exercized.
No. Not in Denmark.
So one might expect that one pays taxes on the vested stocs (unfair, but one can always
excecize and sell the shares to pay the taxes).
No. Not in denmark, if what I hear is correct.
In denmark, they look at the amount of the money involved (2000*20 =
40000 dollars) and they take a percentage of it (between 20 and 30%,
very complex and mysterious algorithm) to calculate an immediate
taxable income (for example 18.000 dollars, taxed at 45%).

Question. Is this correct?

if it's correct, why didn't they make stock optionms illegal to start with?
they would save everyone so much time and frustration.

if it's not correct, what is the truth?

btw i can read norwegian, so I can read danish too, in case you have some pointers

thank you

luca

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luca passani wrote:
>
> Hallo, is there anyone who can explain to me how stock options work
> in denmark?

Yes, precise and corret,
the danish Told*Skat department,
write to them.

And your sure, you can depend on the answer.

--
Regards Erik G Christensen
Adviser for danish farmers, economy
ICQ # 59294864
Prepare for the worse - always hope for the best

---

"luca passani" <passani@eunet.no> wrote in message
news:3C18A41B.2703977B@eunet.no...
>
> Hallo, is there anyone who can explain to me how stock options work
> in denmark?

Hardly - The best bet is the Tax Authority in the "Kommune" where the person
recieving the options lives, since they are responsible for the taxation of
them, and there seem to be quite a bit of "flexibility" in how the local tax
authority interpretes the rulez....

>
> Question. Is this correct?
>

Probably. -

> if it's correct, why didn't they make stock optionms illegal to start
with?
> they would save everyone so much time and frustration.
>

Now we are getting Political:

The "Social Democrats", which were in the government at the time they made
the rules, hates any mechanism which permit ordinary people from benefitting
directly from their own work without some sort of authority under their
control i the loop. So - they make it difficult for people straying from the
path chosen for them.

They probably could not make stock options illegal for other reasons - like
the creation of the federal european state - which our politcians are also
in denial about - but they could make it difficult, which they did.

And then there is the dual purpose of the tax system:

The obvious purpose is to finance government spending, and too many people
believe that is all there is to it.

The other, more sinister, purpose is to exercise control over the
popolation. There is a huge body of tax rules especially formulated to guide
peoples actions in some desired way - every time we get a new government a
new layer of rules is added - resulting in a total mess of baffeling
complexity that perhaps only a few of the sharpest minds in the central
administration has any passing understanding off (but one really doubts it).
One may even suspect that the complexity is by design: If noone has a clear
understanding of their rights and duties, it is easy to bend the rules
against anyone the state does not like - thus keeping the rest of the
populace in line.

> if it's not correct, what is the truth?
>

That nothing in the way this country is run has really changed the last 400
or so years - The Heredital King, Chr IV, has been replaced by a central
administration but the attitude towards the common citizen is exactly the
same: Uneducated, Unwashed and only worth having around for the profit that
may be extracted from their labour.

---

Frithiof Andreas Jensen wrote:

> The Heredital King, Chr IV,

Who was not heredital king, but elected king. His son, Frederick III,
was the first heredital king (as from 1660).

Thomas T.

---

Having been i a similar situation (working for a US company in DK) I woudl
advise you to speak with teh HR/ Finance department of your company. At my
previous place of work teh company hired an independent tax consultancy firm
(e.g. Ernst & Young) to come in and hold seminars/ presnetatiosn fo rteh
empooyees.

P
"luca passani" <passani@eunet.no> wrote in message
news:3C18A41B.2703977B@eunet.no...
>
> Hallo, is there anyone who can explain to me how stock options work
> in denmark?
>
> here is the context. American company, office in denmark.
> Stock option offered to employees world wide. Different tax rules apply
> in different countries.
>
> What I hear about the rules in DK is so crazy that I refuse to believe
them
> and I turn to this forum for enlighment.
> my understanding (I don't know much about this stuff) is that there
> are three phases.
>
> Granting = When they tell you how many stock options you'll be able to
> vest at the end of a certain period (ex. 2000 after 4 years).
>
> Vesting = when you are allowed to excercize your options (ex. 500 one year
after
> granting, 1000 after 2 years,....2000 after 4 years).
>
> Excercizing = when you actually buy a share at the option price (ex: 20
dollars per share).
>
> Now, One would expect that one would pay taxes when the options are
exercized.
> No. Not in Denmark.
> So one might expect that one pays taxes on the vested stocs (unfair, but
one can always
> excecize and sell the shares to pay the taxes).
> No. Not in denmark, if what I hear is correct.
> In denmark, they look at the amount of the money involved (2000*20 =
> 40000 dollars) and they take a percentage of it (between 20 and 30%,
> very complex and mysterious algorithm) to calculate an immediate
> taxable income (for example 18.000 dollars, taxed at 45%).
>
> Question. Is this correct?
>
> if it's correct, why didn't they make stock optionms illegal to start
with?
> they would save everyone so much time and frustration.
>
> if it's not correct, what is the truth?
>
> btw i can read norwegian, so I can read danish too, in case you have some
pointers
>
> thank you
>
> luca