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Danmark·Destination guide · Northern Europe

Denmark

55.6761° N · Northern Europe · Schengen

Denmark still keeps a hotel gæsteregister — then sommerhusloven, not a tourist tax, gates apartment short stays.

Under Pasbekendtgørelsen § 31, anyone running a hotel, sommerhotel, gæstgiveri, pensionat, herberg, vandrehjem or lejrplads must keep a register of overnight guests aged 16+, with full name, date of birth and residence, and must require photo ID. Records stay two years. Separately, sommerhusloven caps letting your own full helårsbolig for holiday use at 30 days a year — or 70 days when a reporting platform/bureau mediates under skatteindberetningslovens § 43 — with municipalities allowed to raise that ceiling to 100. Denmark has no national short-term rental licence number and no municipal tourist tax in force.

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NextStay relevance · Denmark

5 / 5

Essential

Pasbekendtgørelsen § 31 requires hotels and listed lodging types to keep a guest register (name, date of birth, residence + photo ID, 2 years) — while helårsbolig short stays are capped by sommerhusloven at 30 / 70 days (not a nationwide Airbnb ban), with no tourist tax in force.

At a glance · Denmark

  • Gæsteregister

    Hotels · 16+ · 2 years

  • Helårsbolig

    30 / 70 days

  • Copenhagen

    70 days (not 100)

  • Tourist tax

    None in force

Who this is for

What hosts and hotels actually need to know

Denmark’s lodging stack is lighter than Portugal’s RNAL/SIBA or Belgium’s federal night register — but it is not optional on hotel identity, and apartment hosts live under a clear day-cap statute. First, gæsteregister for classic lodging: Pasbekendtgørelsen § 31 (BEK 2693/2021 as amended by BEK 1120/2022) requires hotels and listed lodging types to register overnight guests 16+ with name, date of birth and residence, verify photo ID, and retain data for two years — keep-and-produce, not a same-day national upload portal. Politi.dk notes that overnight stays can require photo ID even on Nordic trips without a passport. The § 31 list does not name private helårsbolig platform apartments, so Denmark’s STR identity duty is narrower than Sweden’s yrkesmässig overnight card — do not invent a nationwide Airbnb guest-fiche for every keybox flat. Second, short-term letting of your own full primary home: sommerhusloven § 5 (LBK 400/2024) sets 30 days private / 70 days via a § 43-reporting formidler; § 6 lets the municipal council raise 70 to 100 (Copenhagen has not; Odense has). Plan- og Landdistriktsstyrelsen supervises the day cap; Københavns Kommune handles bopælspligt and may forward suspected over-cap lets. Third, Skattestyrelsen taxes private rental surplus after bundfradrag (higher when the platform reports). Fourth, there is no tourist or bed tax municipalities may levy today — government has rejected enabling one. Self check-in works when required guest data and ID checks happen before access is released.

Front desk or digital, Pasbekendtgørelsen § 31 is unchanged: register overnight guests aged 16+, verify photo ID, and keep the register inspection-ready for two years.

  • 01Enter full name, date of birth and residence for every overnight guest aged 16+
  • 02Require fremvisning of billedlegitimation before treating identity data as verified
  • 03Retain register data for two years; Rigspolitiet determines register form
  • 04There is no national tourist tax to remittance-track — focus compliance energy on the gæsteregister

Chapter · Gæsteregister

Hotel guest register (Pasbekendtgørelsen § 31)

Pasbekendtgørelsen § 31 requires listed lodging operators to keep a register of overnight guests aged 16+ — with photo ID — and retain it for two years.

Statute

“Den, der driver hotel, sommerhotel, gæstgiveri, pensionat, herberg, vandrehjem eller lejrplads, skal manuelt eller elektronisk føre register over overnattende, der er fyldt 16 år, med angivelse af fulde navn, fødselsdato og bopæl. Logigiveren skal kræve fremvisning af billedlegitimation som dokumentation for identitetsoplysningerne.”
Pasbekendtgørelsen § 31, stk. 1 (BEK 2693/2021 as amended by BEK 1120/2022) [01]
  1. 01

    Who must keep a register

    The duty applies to anyone operating a hotel, sommerhotel, gæstgiveri, pensionat, herberg, vandrehjem or lejrplads. Guests aged 16 and over who overnight must be entered. Occasional private hosting of a helårsbolig via a platform is not named in that list — Denmark’s STR framework is lighter on identity than on day caps — but once you operate as one of the listed lodging types, plan for the full register duty.

    [01]
  2. 02

    Fields, photo ID, two-year retention

    Record full name, date of birth and residence. The operator must require presentation of photo ID to document those identity data. Register information must be kept for two years. Rigspolitiet determines the form of the register. Breach of § 31, stk. 1 and 2 can attract a fine or imprisonment of up to six months under § 32.

    [01][03]
  3. 03

    Keep-and-produce — no same-day national portal

    Unlike Portugal’s SIBA, Denmark does not run a same-day national electronic guest-filing portal for lodging. Capture, retain for two years, and produce if authorities require — Politi.dk separately reminds travellers that hotels may demand photo ID for overnight stays even when a Nordic passport is not carried.

    [01][03]
  4. 04

    Not a nationwide Airbnb guest-fiche

    Do not invent a Portugal-style boletim for every Copenhagen keybox. § 31’s lodging list is specific. Private helårsbolig short stays are primarily gated by sommerhusloven day caps, association rules, and tax — plus GDPR-sound operational identity capture before remote access. Hotels and listed lodging types remain squarely inside the gæsteregister.

    [01][04]

Chapter · Sommerhusloven

Helårsbolig day caps & enforcement

Sommerhusloven (LBK nr. 400 af 12/04/2024) sets national day ceilings for letting your own full primary home for holiday use — not a nationwide platform ban.

  1. 01

    30 days private / 70 days via reporting formidler

    Owners and users may let their own full helårsbolig for ferie- og fritidsformål for at most 30 days per calendar year. If letting is mediated exclusively by a business that reports rental income under skatteindberetningslovens § 43, the ceiling rises to 70 days (§ 5). Mixing non-reporting room lets can pull you back to the 30-day track — read the statutory stacking carefully.

    [04][05]
  2. 02

    Municipal 100-day option — not a lower ban

    Kommunalbestyrelsen may raise the 70-day ceiling up to 100 days (§ 6) and must publish that decision. Municipalities cannot set a lower ceiling than 70 for platform-mediated full-home holiday lets. Plan- og Landdistriktsstyrelsen publishes which kommuner have raised to 100 — Odense is on that list; Copenhagen is not.

    [04][06][07]
  3. 03

    PLST supervises day caps; municipalities watch bopælspligt

    Plan- og Landdistriktsstyrelsen supervises sommerhusloven holiday-letting rules (sommerhusloven@plst.dk). Københavns Kommune states it lacks hjemmel to regulate short-term holiday letting itself, but enforces helårsanvendelse / bopælspligt under Lov om boligforhold and forwards suspected over-cap lets to PLST. Always check ejer-/andelsforening vedtægter — they may be stricter than the statute.

    [05][07]
  4. 04

    No national STR register number yet

    Unlike Ireland’s forthcoming STL number or Portugal’s RNAL, Denmark does not operate a nationwide short-term rental registration scheme for platform nights. Regulation (EU) 2024/1028 standardises data sharing where Member States run registration systems — Denmark’s hard apartment gate today is the day cap plus tax reporting, not a missing licence code on Airbnb.

    [13][04]

Chapter · Skat & tax

Bundfradrag, platforms & no tourist tax

Skattestyrelsen taxes private holiday letting after a bundfradrag — higher when a reporting platform mediates. Denmark has no tourist tax in force.

  1. 01

    Skat — helårsbolig bundfradrag

    Private short-term letting of a dwelling you live in is reported with either a bundfradrag or a regnskabsmæssigt fradrag (skat.dk). Under the bundfradrag method, only 60% of income above the threshold is taxed. Official guidance distinguishes platform-reported lets (higher threshold) from self-managed private lets (lower threshold). Confirm the current year’s kroner figures in Skattestyrelsen’s legal guidance before quoting guests — thresholds are indexed.

    [08][09]
  2. 02

    Sommerhus / fritidsbolig is a parallel track

    Letting a sommerhus or fritidsbolig uses related but separate Skat pages and bundfradrag levels. Sommerhusloven also constrains commercial holiday letting of non-primary stock — do not assume helårsbolig 30/70-day rules are the only statute that applies to a coastal cabin portfolio.

    [10][04]
  3. 03

    Tourist tax — none in force

    Denmark does not currently empower municipalities to levy a guest-night tourist tax. Municipal debate continues, and the government has publicly rejected enabling a turistskat — collect nothing as tourist tax unless primary law changes. Voluntary hotel “green” surcharges are commercial, not a statutory remittance.

    [07]

Chapter · EU layer

EU law that sits underneath

Denmark is an EU and Schengen Member State. The gæsteregister implements lodging-record purpose domestically for listed operators; GDPR governs storage; Reg 2024/1028 matters mainly if Denmark later adds an STR registration system.

  1. 01

    Schengen — Article 45 purpose, Danish register form

    Article 45 of the Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement sets the lodging-provider guest-record purpose for Schengen states. Denmark implements that purpose for listed lodging types through Pasbekendtgørelsen § 31 (register fields, photo ID, two-year retention) — not through a Portuguese-style same-day portal. Use the Danish fields, not a generic EU checklist.

    [11][01]
  2. 02

    GDPR (Regulation (EU) 2016/679)

    Register fields, ID numbers and access logs are personal data. Collect what the legal basis requires, inform guests, secure storage for the two-year § 31 window (and any longer operational retention you justify), and avoid unnecessary passport image archives when the statute asks for verified data fields.

    [12][01]
  3. 03

    Short-term rental data — Regulation (EU) 2024/1028

    From 20 May 2026 the EU framework for STR registration data and platform sharing applies where Member States operate registration procedures and require platforms to transmit activity data. Denmark has not layered a national STR registration number on top of that framework as of this review — host duties remain the gæsteregister where § 31 applies, sommerhusloven day caps, association rules, and Skat — not a missing licence code on Airbnb.

    [13][14]

Remote arrival · Still the law

Self check-in under Danish rules

Remote arrival is common in Copenhagen, Aarhus and Odense. For hotels and listed lodging types, the compliance gate is gæsteregister data plus photo ID before door codes unlock. For helårsbolig platform stays, capture guest identity and stay dates before access — then stay inside the day cap.

01

Document

02

E.turistas

03

Keys

  • Register fields and photo ID before access

    Build name, date of birth, residence and a photo-ID check into the check-in flow for in-scope lodging before releasing access. A booking confirmation alone is not a gæsteregister entry.

    [01][03]

  • Keep-and-produce, not a portal clock

    Unlike Portugal’s SIBA, Denmark does not run a same-day national electronic guest-filing portal for lodging. Capture, retain for two years where § 31 applies, and produce on request.

    [01]

  • Day-cap tracking for full-home lets

    Self check-in does not stretch sommerhusloven. Log calendar nights against the 30 / 70 (or local 100) ceiling for full helårsbolig holiday letting, and stop advertising when the year-to-date count is exhausted.

    [04][05]

  • Association rules are a separate prerequisite

    A completed guest form does not override ejer-/andelsforening vedtægter or Copenhagen bopælspligt expectations. Confirm letting status before automating remote arrival at scale on apartment stock.

    [07]

City & tax layers

Gæsteregister and sommerhusloven day caps are national. Cities differ on the optional 100-day raise and on housing enforcement practice. Denmark has no tourist tax in force — do not invent a Copenhagen guest-night levy.

  • Colourful Nyhavn canal houses and boats, Copenhagen

    Copenhagen — 70 days, not 100

    01

    Københavns Kommune confirms the national 30 / 70-day helårsbolig holiday-letting rules and states it has not used sommerhusloven § 6 to raise the ceiling to 100. The city enforces bopælspligt / helårsanvendelse and forwards suspected over-cap short lets to Plan- og Landdistriktsstyrelsen. Pair day-cap tracking with gæsteregister (or equivalent pre-access identity) before late Kastrup arrivals unlock. No municipal tourist tax applies.

    [07][05][06]
  • ARoS Aarhus Art Museum cube exterior in summer

    Aarhus — same national stack

    02

    Aarhus applies the same Pasbekendtgørelsen register duty for listed lodging and the same sommerhusloven 30 / 70-day default for full helårsbolig holiday lets. As of Plan- og Landdistriktsstyrelsen’s published 100-day list, Aarhus has not raised the platform ceiling — confirm locally before assuming 100 nights. No municipal bed tax in force.

    [01][04][06]
  • Odense City Hall (Rådhus) façade

    Odense — 100-day municipality

    03

    Odense is on Plan- og Landdistriktsstyrelsen’s list of municipalities that raised the platform-mediated full-home holiday-letting ceiling to 100 days per calendar year. Hotel gæsteregister rules remain national. Still no municipal tourist tax — collect nothing as such unless primary law changes.

    [06][01]

This is the law · Here is the reference

Sources & references

Primary statutes, EU instruments and competent authorities. Open the link when your property is at stake.

  1. [01]Local law
    Pasbekendtgørelsen § 31 — gæsteregister

    BEK nr. 2693 af 28/12/2021 as amended by BEK nr. 1120 af 30/06/2022: hotels and listed lodging types must register overnight guests 16+ (name, date of birth, residence), require photo ID, retain 2 years.

  2. [02]Local law
    BEK nr. 1120 af 30/06/2022 — § 31 amendment

    Amends the guest-register wording (manual/electronic register; Rigspolitiet sets form) effective 1 August 2022.

  3. [03]Authority
    Politi.dk — Medbringelse af pas på rejser

    Official reminder that overnight stays (hotels etc.) may require photo ID even on Nordic trips where a Danish passport is not carried.

  4. [04]Local law
    Sommerhusloven — LBK nr. 400 af 12/04/2024

    Primary statute: § 5 day caps (30 / 70) for full helårsbolig holiday letting; § 6 municipal option to raise to 100 days.

  5. [05]Authority
    Plan- og Landdistriktsstyrelsen — Egen fulde helårsbolig

    Authority guidance on 30 / 70-day ceilings, § 43 reporting formidlere, and PLST supervision (sommerhusloven@plst.dk).

  6. [06]Authority
    Plan- og Landdistriktsstyrelsen — Kommuner op til 100 dage

    Published list of municipalities that raised the platform-mediated ceiling to 100 days (includes Odense; not Copenhagen).

  7. [07]Authority
    Københavns Kommune — Bopælspligt & korttidsudlejning

    Municipal confirmation of 30 / 70-day rules, association bylaws may be stricter, city lacks hjemmel to regulate STR day caps directly, forwards to PLST.

  8. [08]Authority
    Skat.dk — Udlejning af værelse eller bolig du selv bor i

    Citizen guidance on bundfradrag vs regnskabsmæssigt fradrag for letting a dwelling you live in.

  9. [09]Agency
    Skattestyrelsen — Den juridiske vejledning LL § 15 Q

    Official legal guidance on bundfradrag calculation for helårsbolig letting, including platform-reporting conditions and indexed annual amounts.

  10. [10]Authority
    Skat.dk — Udlejning af sommerhus/fritidsbolig

    Citizen guidance on tax treatment when letting a summer house or leisure dwelling.

  11. [11]EU law
    Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement — Art. 45

    Schengen lodging-provider guest-record purpose implemented in Denmark for listed lodging via Pasbekendtgørelsen § 31.

  12. [12]EU law
    GDPR — Regulation (EU) 2016/679

    Personal-data rules for identity, gæsteregister and access processing — fully applicable in Denmark.

  13. [13]EU law
    Regulation (EU) 2024/1028 — short-term rental data

    EU framework for STR registration data and platform sharing where Member States operate registration systems (applicable from 20 May 2026).

  14. [14]Agency
    European Commission — STR transparency rules

    Plain-language explanation of the May 2026 framework.

After the law · The product

Where NextStay fits

After the law is clear: we build guest identity capture into the check-in gate — so Danish hosts can run remote-friendly arrivals without skipping gæsteregister fields or losing sight of sommerhusloven day caps.

  • 01

    Identity before the key

    Online check-in collects gæsteregister fields and supports photo-ID verification before door instructions unlock — matching Pasbekendtgørelsen § 31 for listed lodging.

  • 02

    Keep-and-produce ready records

    Structured guest data stays organised for the two-year retention window — without pretending Denmark runs a same-day national filing portal.

  • 03

    Host visibility without desk chaos

    Hotels and individual hosts see who has completed check-in, who is blocked, and when access can release — including late Kastrup, Billund and Aarhus arrivals.

  • 04

    Destination guidance in the workspace

    This Denmark dossier stays attached to the market — gæsteregister, sommerhusloven 30/70/100, Copenhagen vs Odense ceilings, Skat, and no tourist tax — not a generic Schengen footnote.

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NextStay provides operational tools and general regulatory information, not legal advice. Hosts remain responsible for confirming the rules that apply to their accommodation in Denmark. Research last verified .