Cleaning tax deduction in Denmark: how the servicefradrag works

Many people think regular cleaning is a luxury they cannot afford. But in Denmark there is a tax deduction that makes exactly this kind of help noticeably cheaper than the invoice first suggests. It is called the servicefradrag, and it is part of what is commonly known as the håndværker- og servicefradrag (the home-service and tradesperson deduction). If you pay for cleaning in your own home, part of the labour cost can be deducted from your tax. Here is a simple explanation of how it works in practice.

What the servicefradrag covers

The servicefradrag covers ordinary help in and around the home, and cleaning is one of the core services. In practice you can typically claim the deduction for:

• Ordinary cleaning of the home, meaning vacuuming, mopping, wiping surfaces and cleaning the kitchen and bathroom.
• Window cleaning inside and out.
• Dishwashing and tidying as part of the regular clean.

It is important to understand that the deduction applies to the labour, not to any materials. With cleaning, almost the entire amount is labour, so the deduction reaches nearly the whole cost, which is exactly why it makes the most sense for cleaning.

How much can you save?

As a rule of thumb, the deduction means you get roughly a quarter of the labour cost back through your tax. There is an annual cap per person, and both the cap and the deduction rate can change from year to year as the rules are adjusted by the politicians. That is why we deliberately do not quote a specific kroner figure here. Always check the current rates and the applicable cap on skat.dk so you are working with the right numbers for the current year.

How to claim it in practice

It is simpler than many people expect.

• You pay the invoice electronically, not in cash, because the payment must be documentable.
• We issue a receipt with the details SKAT needs: our CVR number, the amount, the date and the type of work performed.
• You enter the amount in the deduction field on your årsopgørelse (annual tax statement) in TastSelv. It is you, as the homeowner or tenant, who reports the deduction itself.

You do not need to send the receipt in, but keep it so you have the documentation if SKAT asks.

How to declare it, step by step

The declaration itself takes a few minutes, and it happens with the Danish tax authority, not with us. The procedure is the same every year.

• Log in at skat.dk with MitID.
• Go to your annual or preliminary tax assessment for the year in which you paid.
• Find the field for the tradesman and service deduction.
• Enter the amount for labour, not for materials or travel.
• State the company's CVR number.
• Save. The deduction is applied automatically.

If there are two adults in the household, you each declare separately, and each only the amount you personally paid. If one of you paid it all, you cannot freely split it afterwards.

What counts as labour

Only the labour qualifies. Cleaning products, materials and any travel do not, which is why the invoice needs a split if it contains anything besides hours.

With us this is rarely an issue, because a cleaning job is almost entirely labour. We bring our own products and equipment, and that sits inside the hourly rate rather than as a separate amount. If you ask, we will write the split clearly on the invoice so you have it should the tax authority ask.

The important limitation

Here is a detail worth being completely clear about. The servicefradrag applies to cleaning in your own year-round home and in a holiday home you use yourself. It does not apply to cleaning a summer house you run as a rental, that is, changeover cleaning between paying guests. That kind of work is an operating cost in a rental business and follows entirely different rules. In short: if you live in the home yourself, you are likely eligible for the servicefradrag. If you rent it out as a business, you are not. If you are unsure about your own situation, a short conversation with SKAT or an accountant is worth the money.

Where it makes the most sense

For private households with regular cleaning, the deduction can be what makes the maths add up. We have regular private clients in Bork, Hemmet, Tarm, Skjern, Varde and Ringkøbing among others, who get help weekly or every two weeks, and for most of them the servicefradrag is a natural part of the budget. It is the difference between considering help and actually getting your weekend back.

If you want the full walkthrough of the rules and a worked example, we have gathered it on our page about the cleaning tax deduction, read more here.

What people most often get wrong

The deduction usually fails on the formalities rather than the amount. Four mistakes recur, and all of them are easy to avoid.

• Paid in cash. The work must be paid electronically, that is by bank transfer, MobilePay or card. A cash payment does not qualify, however good the invoice is.
• The invoice is missing details. It needs a CVR number, a date, a description of the work and a split if materials are included.
• Declared in the wrong year. It is the payment date that counts, not the date of the work. Pay in January for a December job and it belongs to the new year.
• Split wrongly between two adults. Each person has their own ceiling, and the amount must be declared by whoever paid.

Keep the invoice. The Danish tax authority can ask for documentation afterwards, and a bank transfer receipt alone is not enough.

Check the rate yourself, every year

Both the ceiling and the percentage are adjusted, and the rules on which services qualify have changed several times. That is why we do not print an amount here: a figure on a website goes out of date, and a wrong figure is worse than none.

The current rate is published by Skattestyrelsen at skat.dk, and it is also visible in your tax assessment when you declare. It takes two minutes to look up, and those are the only two minutes where the number is guaranteed correct.

Shall we take the cleaning?

We are a dedicated local team based in Bork, and we always issue a proper receipt so you can easily use the servicefradrag. Send us your address, square metres and preferred interval, and we will come back with a quote. This is general, helpful information and not formal tax advice, so always check the current rules on skat.dk.