Expat Advice: Financial Issues in Copenhagen, Denmark

What is the name of the city or town that you are reporting on?

Copenhagen

Which banks do you use? If you have a local account, which bank do you use? How do you like it? Do you also have an account in your home country? Which bank? Do they charge for ATM withdrawals? Do they charge a lot for international wire transfers? How has it been working with them from abroad? Do you use a special international wire transfer service? Do you use an online bank? If so, tell us about them.

There are no expat focused banks in DK. I have switched banks several times for better service and lower fees. I particularly was looking for Banks in which I could maintain a dollar account and could move money between banks around the world at low cost. It may be hard to do both at the same time (low cost and easy movement of money). I have banked at Danske, Nordea, Fionia. Fees can be high here. Find out what they are.

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Traveling Mailbox

Traveling Mailbox serves thousands of travelers, expats, digital nomads, businesses, individuals and others in over 47 Countries by scanning their postal mail so they can view it online anywhere in the world. They provide customer service 7 days a week so if you need assistance, it is just a phone call away. Traveling Mailbox works with Evernote, Bill.com and Dropbox. And, there are Traveling Mailbox apps available for iOS and Android devices.
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Click connect to have our partner contact you via e-mail and/or phone.

What advice would you offer others about banking as an expat in your country? What do you wish you had known about banking when you first arrived?

Make a plan that will meet your needs to make deposits and pay bills in both countries, before you come. Then, as you gain more information about your real needs and the services provided by local banks, be flexible about changing that plan so that you get what you want.

What sort of challenges or frustrations have you encountered as an investor living overseas? Please describe.

The investing part has been easy. I kept most of my investments in the US. Taxation of the returns and capital gains in both the US and Denmark has been harder to learn about. Danish tax firms don't know the UX tax code. Tax preparers in the US, even those who specialize in ex pat taxes, don't know Danish tax law. I have had to learn a bit of both to bridge the gap. Still, documenting my foreign income to Denmark is a very time-consuming process. If you have signifigant investments outside the US, I suggest you do use a Danish accounting firm to file your Danish taxes, even though you will have to do most of the tedious work.

What advice was particularly helpful to you in managing your finances? What advice would you give? Any other thoughts?

Advice? From whom? I got a lot of bad advice from Danish banks and tax preparers until I took responsibility for my actions. By and large the Danish "professionals" in the finance and banking industries with whom the average ex pat has contact do not know enough about the US-side of our finances to give any useful advice about how to manage ex pat finances between two countries. It's up to you.

Do you do your own taxes, use a local firm, an expat-oriented firm or does your employer handle this for you (i.e. via an corporate tax firm)?

I do my Danish taxes and then a Danish accounting firm submits them to the government and charges me about $1,000. I have an American prepare my US taxes for $200, using the information about my Danish taxes. I have investments outside Denmark and am required by Denmark to pay taxes on my world-wide income.

What advice could you offer others about doing your taxes as an expat?

Doing my taxes or theirs?

1. Learn the danish tax system, especially if you have income from non-danish sources. You need to do this to correctly report the information on your dividends, royalties, capital gains, etc to Denmark and to give your US tax preparer the correct information to calculate your foreign (danish) tax credits for your US tax.

2. Do NOT use the double taxation agreemnt. You don't have to. Simply offset your US tax obligation with Tax credits from the taxes you paid in Denmark.