Portrait of a citizen: Young Taxpayer

The ladies at The Citizens Service Office

The Citizens Service Office lies a little way from Dennis’ apartment in Nykøbing Falster, but he still goes down there whenever he has any questions about his tax affairs. When he looks at the tax authorities’ website, he isn’t able to work out how to make his return online.

”I feel much more comfortable going down to the Citizens Service Office when I have a question about my taxes or need to change my deductions. They know what they’re doing, which is more than I do when it comes to tax.”

Dennis, young taxpayer, car mechanic, 21 years

Dennis likes to be in charge of his finances. He has put a budget together, he has subscribed to an electronic payment processor, and he almost never has an overdraft, even though it can be tricky to stretch his money as far as it needs to go. He has just moved in with his girlfriend Thilde, who is studying at a vocational college. Together, they have 2000 danish crowns left over every month for food, petrol and entertainment after fixed expenses.

Dennis has a file for his tax affairs and also checks his annual tax certificate on the Web. His dad has taught him to go down to The Citizens Service Office every time he gets a new job if he wants to avoid being liable for underpaid tax. The staff at The Citizens Service Office make sure that the tax office is informed if his new job will affect his deductions or taxation rate. Dennis asks them to state his income as being slightly higher than he anticipates, so he can be sure of getting some money back.

“It’s a great feeling to get a smidgen back, but I’ve heard that the Inland Revenue has begun to adjust it on the fly so that you’ll end up at 0. Last year I got 9000 crowns back. This year I only got 1000 crowns. It’s a bit of a bummer”.

The Citizens Service Office lies a little way from Dennis’ apartment in Nykøbing Falster, but he still goes down there whenever he has any questions about his tax affairs. When he looks at the tax authorities’ website, he isn’t able to work out how to make his return online.

“Interest paid to financial institutions? Employer-managed capital pension? Well, I’ve no idea what all that means. I’ve never been told what those words mean for me” he says, and begins to laugh when he is asked if his father might be able to help him.

“My dad can’t even turn on a computer.”

Still, Dennis plans to study the tax system more at some point, because there are some things that he wonders about. Last year he took out a bank loan because he had to overdraw while Thilde was unemployed for a few months. He thinks that ought to affect his deductions, but exactly how he has no idea.

“My classmate, for example, gets all of his wages for his school apprenticeship paid out because he has a bank loan. As soon as I heard that, I thought I should probably also be getting the same thing, because we also have a loan. But I don’t know how to go about it”.

So far, Dennis is content to make sure he always gets his annual tax certificate on paper. That’s what feels best to him. And although it can sometimes be slightly inconvenient to go to The Citizens Service Office to get help with his tax affairs, he will keep doing so.

“I would never dare to go in and mess about with my own taxes on the internet. It would be really annoying if I did something wrong and then had a huge liability for underpaid tax. "