What's changing?

The previous 50% limit on the value of warrants that can be granted tax-free will be eliminated for companies of a certain size and age. In return, employees must be paid an annual salary of at least the daily unemployment benefit rate (approximately 264,492 DKK in 2026). If these requirements are met, the employee may be granted an unlimited number of warrants. When the 50% limit is eliminated, the need to value warrants at the time of grant is also eliminated. This makes the scheme administratively simpler to implement and removes the uncertainty that has been the subject of criticism of the rules.

At the same time, the size and age criteria that determine whether a company is eligible for the expanded program are being raised. A broader range of companies will thus be able to use the scheme, including, in particular, companies with 50–150 employees, DKK 15–200 million in net revenue or total assets, and between 5 and 10 years of market activity. Previously, these companies could only apply Section 7 P within the value limits of 10% or 20% of annual salary.

We have reviewed the legislative change in detail in our previous news article, which can be read here.

Which agreements are covered?

The new rules apply to agreements on the granting of warrants entered into after July 1, 2026. For agreements entered into before that date, the previous rules apply, including the previous value thresholds of 10%, 20%, or 50% of the employee’s annual salary. We have previously written an article about these rules here. It should be noted that if a company has granted warrants exceeding the 50% limit before July 1, 2026, subsequent grants under the new rules will not be taken into account when assessing whether this limit was complied with in the previous grants.

Contact us

If you have any questions about how the expanded rules will affect specific grants or existing stock option programs, please feel free to contact us.