Shareholder loans: can you borrow money from your own ApS?

New: the company-law ban is repealed

Until the end of 2024, loans to owners were essentially prohibited by the Danish Companies Act, and "illegal shareholder loans" triggered repayment demands with interest. Those rules were repealed from 1 January 2025: under company law, an ApS may now lend money to its owner. Management must still act responsibly — the company has to be able to pay its bills even with the money lent out.

The tax is the real rule

For tax purposes, a loan to an owner with controlling influence — typically more than half the shares, counting close family — is treated not as a loan but as a withdrawal: the amount is taxed as salary or dividend the moment it's paid out. That applies even if you fully intend to repay it, and even though the loan is now legal under company law.

New loans from 2026: taxed only on the highest amount

For loans paid out on or after 1 January 2026 the rules are eased: if you repay a taxed loan, the repayment is recorded on a special tax intermediate account, and you can later withdraw up to the same amount again without new taxation. In other words, you're only taxed on the highest amount you've had borrowed — the old double taxation is gone for new loans.

Old loans: the double taxation remains

For loans that arose before 2026 the old rules still apply: repayment doesn't undo the taxation, and if you later withdraw the money again, you're taxed once more. If you're sitting on an old, taxed loan, get an adviser to clean it up — there are ways out, such as settling the loan as salary or distributing the receivable, but they have to be handled correctly.

The intercompany account: where the mistakes happen

Very few shareholder loans are deliberate loans. They arise when the company card is used for private purchases, or when "a little extra" is transferred from the company without a payslip. In the books it lands on the owner's intercompany account (mellemregningskonto) — and if you owe the company money, that's a shareholder loan with tax to follow, whatever the amount.

The opposite direction is completely fine: if you pay company expenses out of your own pocket, the company owes you money, and it can be paid back to you tax-free.

How to stay out of the trap

• Keep the company's finances and your private finances strictly apart — never private purchases on the company card
• Take money out as salary or dividends, formally decided and reported
• Check the intercompany account every month — it may run in your favour, never in the company's
• If the damage is done: act quickly and get advice before withdrawing or repaying more

A bookkeeper who flags it in time

At Numina the company's transactions are booked continuously — so a private withdrawal is spotted right away, not at annual-report time when the tax was triggered long ago. Your bookkeeper keeps an eye on the intercompany account and makes sure salary and dividends land correctly in the accounts, as part of the fixed price.