Travelling outside the EU

Choose the red lane if you need to declare your goods. Or if you are in doubt about whether you are carrying excess quantities in your suitcase. And it is better to ask once too often than once too little. It may, in fact, become an expensive affair to take the green lane if you are bringing goods with you into Denmark on which you need to pay customs duties, VAT and excise duties. See how much more expensive it will be in the examples below. 

For goods such as tobacco, spirits, gold and silverware and jewellery, the fine is equal to twice the amount payable for customs duty, VAT and excise duties.  For other goods such as clothing, electronics, bags and sportswear, the fine corresponds to once the amount payable for customs duty, VAT and excise duties. 

If your item exceeds the amount threshold, you must pay customs duty, VAT and excise duties. This also applies to items consisting of multiple parts, which function together such as a camera and a lens.  

You consequently cannot avoid paying customs duty, VAT and excise duties by bringing in the parts separately or by letting several persons bring different parts of the item into Denmark.  

Here you can see how much alcohol and tobacco you are allowed to bring into Denmark when travelling outside the EU without paying customs duty, VAT and excise duties. You must be 17 years old to bring alcohol and tobacco into Denmark.  

You are allowed to bring 10 litres of motor fuel in spare cans with you into Denmark in addition to the contents of the normal tank of your vehicle. 

When visiting countries outside the EU, please note that special rules apply to certain types of goods. The rules help protect culture and nature in the individual country while also ensuring that no goods enter Denmark that may be harmful to people, the environment or animal welfare.  

Some goods are completely forbidden from being brought into Denmark, while others require a special permit. Read more about "Special rules for special items". 

When arriving in Denmark by plane, you must, at some points of entry, go through a red or green exit on arrival at the airport.  

You must select the green exit if you do not carry any goods on which you have to pay customs duty, VAT and excise duties If you are instead carrying goods that are subject to customs duties, VAT and excise duties, you must contact the Danish Customs Agency by going through the red exit. This also applies if you are in doubt about whether you are in compliance with the rules.  

If there is no red exit, you can instead contact the airport’s customs clearance office.  

If you have a flight layover in the EU 

If you have purchased goods in a country outside the EU and you have a layover in an EU country in connection with your return flight, the rules for goods purchased while travelling outside the EU will apply.  

As a tourist with a permanent address outside the EU, you are entitled to a VAT refund if you have purchased one or more items with a total value of over DKK 300 in a shop during your stay in Denmark (or Sweden). If you have studied or worked in Denmark, you are not entitled to a VAT refund, as your stay is then not regarded as holiday. 

You must also meet the following conditions: 

• You must be able to document your home address or habitual place of residence outside the EU by presenting a passport, ID card or equivalent proof of identity. 
• Your purchase must comprise items of a value of more than DKK 300 and must have been made in the same shop (the basis is the value of the items stated on the invoice). The aggregate value of multiple items may be used only if all the items are stated on the same invoice issued by the same shop. 

• Your item(s) must have been brought out of the EU before the end of the third month after the month of your purchase. This means that if, for example, you have purchased the item on 4 March, you must bring it out of Denmark before the end of June at the latest.  
• You must bring the goods with you yourself when leaving Denmark or send them to a country outside the EU. 

Read more (in English) in our guide ‘VAT refunds – for tourists in Denmark who are living outside the EU’. 

If you violate the rules for how much you may bring into Denmark without having to pay customs duties, VAT and excise duties, you will be fined. As a general rule, the fine will correspond to two times the amount you were to have paid in customs duties, VAT and excise duties. In addition to the fine, you must pay the customs duties, VAT and excise duties. 

We cannot tell you what you are allowed to bring into other countries. Instead, you must contact the customs authorities in the country that you are travelling to. 

The customs officers are responsible for ensuring that no illegal or hazardous goods are brought into Denmark. Therefore, as a traveller, you may experience having your luggage checked. 

This may be done based on a specific suspicion, but often it will be in the form of a random check. Therefore, you do not necessarily have to be nervous if you are selected to be checked. We are just doing our job. 

According to the rules, you are responsible for your baggage yourself. Therefore, if we ask to look inside your suitcase, you must open it yourself and place it so that we can look inside it. 

Read more about the legal basis for the customs control in section 23 of the Danish Customs Act at retsinformation.dk (in Danish).

Are you not sure if the country you are visiting is part of the EU? See which countries are members of the EU. 

Please note that these territories are not regarded as EU countries: 

• The Faroe Islands 
• Greenland 
• The Canary Islands (such as Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura) 
• The Åland Islands 
• The French overseas departments and territories (Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Reunion and Mayotte)  
• Cyprus – the Northern part.