Analyse af den skattemæssige behandling af aktier og obligationer i henholdsvis selskabsform, personligt regi og pensionsopsparing

Abstract

Awareness about life savings, among private investors has increased in recent years. Especially awareness in regards to saving for the future in pension schemes and for consumption in later life has increased. An efficient way to maximise savings is to invest in listed stocks and bonds. The purpose of this Master’s thesis is to analyse the return of the investment, looking at three different tax environments. The tax environment’s we have chosen to investigate are, private investment, investing though a corporation, or investing through a pension scheme. In the latter environment, pension schemes, we will look at pension’s paid out 5 years prior to the statuary retirement age, or less than 5 years before the statuary retirement age. By comparing investment in listed shares and bonds at the Danish Stock Exchange in these three tax environments, we will look to determine in which tax environment the investor will obtain the highest personal profit after tax. To give the investor the means to make a qualified choice of, which investment-platform to use, we will provide the investor with a review of the Danish tax law. We will describe the fundamental tax law, with focus on the trading and possession of listed shares and bonds. To complete the review we will further describe the tax law specific to the aforementioned tax environments. The comparison of the investments in the different tax environments, are based on various calculations, which illustrate the accumulation effect of the investment over a period of time. We have set up some scenarios, where we calculate and show the effects of each tax environment for an investor. To keep an overview we have chosen to keep the variables within each scenario the same, highlighting the difference in the returns from the investments. In the analysis we will focus on the significance, if any, of the investment period, the difference in tax rates, the rates of return, and the amount invested. The first part of the analysis, we will look at private investment in listed shares using funds where the tax has been paid before investing. In the second part of the thesis we will look at investment using company funds or within a pension scheme, and therefore have to be taxed before an investment can be made in the other tax-environment. The last part of the analysis will focus on investment in listed bonds with funds, which have also been taxed before investment. Based on the aforementioned investigations we have learnt that it is tricky to be conclusive about, which tax environment the investor should place his investment, in order to obtain the highest return. This is because the outcome of the return is dependent on variables such as tax rates, the investment period, the return rate and other non-tax factors. A general recommendation though, points towards that a pension scheme paid out at 5 years prior to the statuary retirement age, is a lucrative investment platform. This is relevant for investment in both shares and bonds, when the investment is made with taxed funds. Another visible trend is that the return of private investment and investment through a pension scheme paid out before 5 years prior to the statuary retirement age, is generally at the same level. Although the return here is comparable, we would recommend private investment, as this is more attractive for the investor in the long term. Based on the calculations in this thesis we would discourage the investor to invest through a corporation. If there are funds available in a company as a result of profit, we do not recommend keeping the funds in the company. Another recommendation would be to withdraw funds from the pension scheme, as soon as the investor has reached the age, 5 years prior to the statuary retirement age. At the same time, if this investor wishes to withdraw the pension before this age, we would recommend the investor to keep the funds in the pension scheme until he needs the investment for consumption.