DENMARK – The 20.5 billion euro Danish PFA pension fund has said that - despite newspaper reports - the recent judgement in the Danner case will not have a drastic impact on the Danish pensions market.

“We do not regard the judgment to be that important to Danish pension savers, even though it will imply some amendments in the long term,” says Jan Holst, manager of compliance at PFA Pension.

PFA said in a newsletter on its website that Danish tax practice will not be amended immediately as a result of the Danner judgement, adding that the case caused a stir in the Danish press.

PFA said it has assessed Danish pension rules and consider that they to correspond with the Danner judgement.

“The judgement says that it is acceptable to refuse deductions for premium payments made to a foreign pension scheme is disbursements from the voluntary foreign pension scheme are tax-free,” PFA said, adding that this is exactly how the Danish pension system works.

The European Court made its judgement in the Danner case on October 3. The case involved German-born Rolf Dieter Danner and challenged as contrary to an article of the EC Treaty a Finnish law that taxes pension insurance contributions made in Finland to a foreign institution.

Danner had claimed that Finns wishing to contribute to a scheme outside the country do not receive the same treatment as those paying into domestic schemes. The case focused on whether Finnish legislation violated Article 59 of the European Treaty which deals with the freedom of services.

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