Employee or Self-Employed? How Denmark Classifies an Influencer's Income

Three categories, not two

When an influencer tries to work out how brand income should be taxed in Denmark, it's tempting to think in two boxes: employee or self-employed. Denmark's tax authority, Skattestyrelsen, actually works with three categories: lønmodtager (employee), honorarmodtager (fee recipient) and selvstændig erhvervsdrivende (self-employed business). Most influencers who take on work from several brands alongside a regular job or SU (student grant) land in the middle category — honorarmodtager — not at either end. What decides which category applies isn't the wording of the contract, but the actual circumstances of the work. For the broader Danish market these questions sit inside, see what does the Danish influencer marketing market look like?

Lønmodtager: work inside an employment relationship

An employee (lønmodtager) receives payment for personal work carried out inside an employment relationship — on the employer's instructions and at the employer's expense and risk. This is the category most people know from an ordinary job: a fixed salary, set working hours, the employer providing the tools, and a notice period. An influencer who is genuinely employed by an agency or company to produce content — with a fixed salary, working hours and instructions — is an employee for tax purposes, whatever the job title on the business card says.

Honorarmodtager: the category most people miss

Per Skattestyrelsen's own guidance (info.skat.dk, section C.A.3.1.2), "honorar" covers payment for personal work carried out outside an employment relationship — and that also doesn't qualify as self-employed business activity. It's a genuine third category, not a grey zone between the other two. Consultants, speakers and board members are the classic examples — and an influencer who takes on one-off or occasional collaborations with different brands, without it amounting to a systematic, ongoing business, typically falls here too.

Honorar income is taxed as B-indkomst (income the recipient reports and pays tax on themselves), following from kildeskatteloven § 43(2) by exclusion — meaning no tax is automatically withheld, and the influencer has to report and pay both income tax and the labour-market contribution (AM-bidrag) themselves. Deduction rights are limited: under the statsskatteloven § 4 principle, a fee recipient can deduct documented expenses directly tied to the income, but doesn't get access to the business tax scheme (virksomhedsordningen) or the full net-income deduction principle available to a self-employed business.

Selvstændig erhvervsdrivende: own account and risk

Self-employed business activity is characterised by running a business of an economic nature for one's own account and risk, aimed at making a profit. The distinction from employee status is set out in Circular No. 129 of 4 July 1994 on the Personal Income Tax Act, section 3.1.1, and elaborated in Skattestyrelsen's own legal guide, section C.C.1.2.1. The circular lists a long set of criteria, each of which can point one way or the other — but no single criterion is decisive on its own, and the assessment is always an overall one.

No single criterion decides it alone, and they don't carry equal weight in every situation — it's always an overall assessment of the actual circumstances, not of what the parties call the arrangement themselves.

Why most influencers end up as fee recipients, not self-employed

Skattestyrelsen's own practice, and several Danish law-firm and accountancy sources, converge on the same four questions when deciding whether an influencer runs a self-employed business rather than being a fee recipient: Is the influencer work the primary source of income? Does the influencer decide which tasks to take on? Are there several different partners, not just one? And does the influencer work at their own expense and risk, so that a loss is genuinely possible? A "yes" to all four points toward self-employed business activity. An influencer with a regular job and occasional, smaller collaborations on the side typically doesn't meet the bar of systematic, ongoing income generation — and ends up a fee recipient, even with several brands on the CV.

Why the category matters in practice

The category decides how the income is taxed, and which rights come with it:

The DKK 50,000 VAT threshold over 12 months applies regardless of whether the income is B-indkomst as a fee recipient or business income as a self-employed influencer — that's already covered for affiliate income specifically in affiliate influencer marketing in Denmark, and the same principle applies to sponsored-post and ambassador income.

If part of the payment is products rather than cash, the same market-value principle applies as described in gifting vs. paid collaborations. And whatever the classification, an invoice — if you issue one — needs to meet the same basic requirements covered for international collaborations in how to pay international influencers.

Decision framework

• IF the influencer work is a one-off or occasional income alongside a regular job or SU THEN you're likely a fee recipient — the income is B-indkomst, and you report it yourself.
• IF the influencer work is your main income, you choose your own tasks, work with several brands and carry the economic risk THEN that points toward self-employed business activity — consider a CVR registration and the business tax scheme.
• IF you're genuinely employed by one agency or company with a fixed salary, working hours and instructions THEN you're an employee, whatever the job title says.
• IF you're unsure because the picture is mixed — a regular job plus a growing number of brand collaborations THEN that's a question for an accountant, not something this article can resolve for your specific situation.

Worked example (hypothetical)

The figures below are made up for illustration only — not a real customer case.

Assume an influencer has a full-time job as an employee and, on the side, makes sponsored posts for three different brands, totalling DKK 4,000/month = DKK 48,000/year. She doesn't set the working hours for the brands she works with — she just agrees individual deliverables — and has no CVR number. It's a side activity alongside a main job, with several different partners, but without systematic, ongoing business activity. By the criteria above, she's a fee recipient: the DKK 48,000 is B-indkomst that she reports and pays tax and AM-bidrag on herself (AM-bidrag alone: 48,000 × 8% = DKK 3,840), and she can only deduct documented expenses directly tied to the tasks — not a general business deduction. The amount is below the DKK 50,000 VAT threshold, so she doesn't need to register for VAT yet.

Now assume that a year later she quits her salaried job to work full-time on brand collaborations, takes on work from ten different brands, buys her own camera and lighting equipment, and invoices each brand for the work delivered. She's now a self-employed business: she needs to register a CVR, can deduct her actual business expenses (camera, software, a share of home-office rent) under the net-income principle, and must register for VAT once total turnover passes DKK 50,000 over 12 months.

Common mistakes

• Assuming there are only two categories — employee or self-employed. Fee recipient (honorarmodtager) is a genuine third category with its own rules.
• Assuming several brands automatically means self-employed business activity — the number of partners is one criterion among several, not the only one.
• Assuming you can simply choose your own category by writing "self-employed" into a contract or invoice — it's the actual circumstances that decide, not the wording of the agreement.
• Forgetting the VAT threshold because it sounds like it only applies to "real" businesses — it also applies to fee recipients once turnover passes DKK 50,000.
• Waiting to sort out the classification until Skattestyrelsen raises the question itself — the earlier it's settled, the easier the reporting.

Make Influence's perspective

At Make Influence, we contract with creators as independent partners — we're not an employer, and we don't set or guarantee any individual creator's tax classification. Whether a given creator is a fee recipient or a self-employed business depends on that creator's overall situation, not on how our own agreement is worded. What we see in practice is that this question usually becomes relevant the moment a creator moves from occasional collaborations to making content their primary income — that's the point worth getting the classification confirmed by an accountant, before it becomes a problem rather than after.

FAQ

Am I automatically self-employed if I work with several brands?

No. Several partners is one criterion among several, not decisive on its own. The overall picture — economic risk, main vs. side occupation, who decides the tasks — determines the classification.

Can I just choose to register as self-employed?

You can register a CVR number, but that doesn't automatically change your tax classification. Skattestyrelsen looks at the actual circumstances, not just the registration.

Do I have to pay the labour-market contribution (AM-bidrag) as a fee recipient?

Yes. Even though nothing is automatically withheld the way it is with ordinary salary, you have to report and pay AM-bidrag on the fee income yourself.

What happens if I'm classified wrongly?

If Skattestyrelsen decides you were actually running a self-employed business but reported as a fee recipient (or the other way round), it can trigger a tax — and possibly VAT — correction. It's worth getting the classification confirmed by an accountant if the situation is unclear.

Do the same rules apply to affiliate income?

Largely yes — see affiliate influencer marketing in Denmark for how Skattestyrelsen specifically distinguishes between B-indkomst and self-employed business activity for affiliate commission.

How does this relate to whether a brand can deduct the cost of paying me?

This article covers the creator's own tax status. For the brand's right to deduct the cost of the collaboration, see VAT and tax deductions for buying influencer marketing in Denmark.

Does my tax status affect my rights if a brand pays late?

Partly — the right to the fixed DKK 310 compensation fee under renteloven typically depends on invoicing as a registered business. See what happens if a brand doesn't pay on time for the full walkthrough.