A brief introduction to the rules and regulations that apply when starting your own business.
Rules and regulations
Starting your own business requires a
good amount of forethought and preparation. There are a number of laws
and regulations with which you need to be familiar. The purpose of
these is to protect citizens and employees against poor hygiene and
occupational injuries, and to ensure that businesses do not commit tax
and VAT fraud.
Seek advice and guidance before you begin.
You
can get help from your local business development centre, from a
start-up consultant, from SKAT (the Danish tax authorities) and your
job centre. The Internet can also provide you with an overview of
advice options as well as information regarding laws, regulations,
financing and other topics relevant to starting your own business.
Your unemployment insurance fund can also advise you about how starting your own business will affect your ability to claim unemployment benefits.
Company registration
As
a general rule, all companies must register with the Danish Commerce
and Companies Agency. This is optional, however, if your annual
earnings are less than DKK 50,000. Once the company has been
registered, you will receive a CBR-number (Central Business Register - Danish: CVR-nummer),
which is the company's identification number. You will need your
CBR-number, for example, when it comes to completing your tax and VAT
declaration.
Trade and drinking licence
All
companies that sell more than DKK 50,000 of foodstuffs per year must be
registered in a special business register. In this connection,
foodstuffs are taken to mean any kind of foodstuffs, beer, wine, soft
drinks and other foodstuffs regardless of whether they are in sealed
packaging.
The Danish Catering and Restaurant Act applies to all
self-employed businesses that serve food and drinks. Such businesses
might be restaurants, bars, discotheques, pizzerias, grill bars or hot
dog stands.
The Danish Catering and Restaurant Act stipulates
which regulations must be complied with when persons or companies apply
for a trade or drinking licence. If you apply for a drinking licence,
you must meet certain age requirements and be able to provide a
financial business plan.
The police are responsible for issuing
trade licences to businesses without a drinking licence, whereas
municipal authorities are responsible for issuing drinking licences. In
Copenhagen, however, it is the municipal authority that issues trade
licences.
A restaurant can apply for a drinking licence, and the
restaurant kitchen must live up to certain requirements from the health
authorities.
Tax and VAT
You must file trading and business accounts with the Danish tax authorities, also known as SKAT.
Insuring employees
If your company employs staff, you must take out employer's liability insurance to cover them.
