What is timeshare? Ownership with only a few weeks of use per year
25 September 2026 · 7 min read · Holiday homes and timeshare
Timeshare is an arrangement where you pay for the right to use a holiday flat or other accommodation in fixed, defined weeks of the year, instead of owning the whole property yourself. The definition comes from the Danish Timeshare Act, and the arrangement is taxed under its own rules, which are different from the rules for a summer house you own and use all year round. This article covers both.
The legal definition of timeshare
The Danish Timeshare Act defines a timeshare agreement like this: an agreement of more than one year, whereby a consumer, for payment, acquires the right to use one or more units of accommodation in two or more defined periods (Act on consumer agreements on the right to use accommodation on a timeshare basis (in Danish), Act no. 102 of 15 February 2011, section 3(1)). The key point is that you get a right of use, not necessarily full ownership, and that the right is tied to defined periods, typically one or more weeks a year, unlike a summer house you can use whenever you like within the limits of the law.
The Act also distinguishes a timeshare agreement from a so called long term holiday product, which instead mainly gives the right to discounts or other benefits in connection with accommodation, without being tied to a specific property (section 3(2)). There are also resale agreements, where a trader helps you sell or buy a right of use for payment, and exchange agreements, where you can swap your week for another unit of accommodation in exchange for giving others temporary access to your own (section 3(3) and (4)). The timeshare agreement itself is the central concept, and the rest of this article is about that.
The Act covers the whole process around a timeshare agreement: the information you must be given before signing, the content of the agreement, and the right of withdrawal. The trader must, among other things, give you a fixed set of information before the agreement is made, and the agreement must be in writing and signed by both parties to be binding on you as a consumer. We cover the right of withdrawal and the other consumer protection rules in the article on the Timeshare Act.
How ownership is typically structured
The Danish Tax Agency’s Legal Guide describes how the structure behind a timeshare scheme can vary a great deal from one project to another. Typically, the owner either has a deed (skøde) to a share of, for example, a holiday flat, has a right of use tied to shares in a company that owns the flat, or has a right of use that in most respects resembles ordinary letting, without a deed or shares (the Legal Guide, section C.H.3.3.7, in Danish). If you have a deed to your share, you own an ideal share of the property itself, together with the other owners.
Which of the three structures your timeshare share falls under matters for what rights you actually have, and for how the share is taxed. If you are unsure which type of ownership you have, it is your contract with the provider or the owners’ association that decides it, not a general rule.
Most timeshare properties are also part of a larger building or resort with several shares, often with shared facilities such as a pool, reception or grounds. It is therefore typically an owners’ association, a limited company or another shared structure that runs the day to day operation of the property itself, while the individual owner only has the right to their own period of use.
Tax on a timeshare flat you use yourself
If you own your timeshare share with a deed, you are an owner of the part of the property you have the right to use. That means you are, as a starting point, covered by the rules on property value tax, and you must pay property value tax that corresponds to the share of the property you own, and to the period you have the right to use it (the Legal Guide, section C.H.3.3.7). The property value tax is therefore calculated in proportion to your share, not as if you owned the whole flat.
This applies as long as you use your week yourself, even if you also let part of it out. The rule only changes once the share is used exclusively for letting, as described below.
If you let your week out exclusively
If the share of the property you have the right to use is used exclusively for letting, meaning you do not use it yourself at all, no property value tax is calculated on it. Instead, the rental income is taxed as ordinary income. The property’s operating result is calculated under the same rules as for rental properties in general, and the result of the letting must be included in your personal income (the Legal Guide, section C.H.3.3.7).
We deliberately do not state the Danish summer house standard deduction (bundfradrag) here. Timeshare has its own tax rule, which does not automatically give you a standard deduction in the same way as letting out a summer house you use yourself for leisure purposes. The two sets of rules belong to different sections of the Danish Tax Agency’s Legal Guide, and they should not be mixed up, even though both types of property are used for holidays. We go into the difference, with a worked example, in the article on tax on timeshare.
Service charges and running costs
In addition to the right of use itself, a timeshare share typically comes with a running service charge or membership fee, which covers maintenance, operation and administration of the property and any shared facilities. The size and collection of such charges are set by the individual resort or owners’ association and appear in your contract, not in a general Danish law. For a long term holiday product, the Act also requires payment to be made in equal annual instalments under a fixed payment plan (the Timeshare Act, section 16).
You typically pay the service charge every year, whether or not you use your week, because it covers the ongoing running of the whole property, not just your own period. It is therefore a fixed cost you should factor into your overall finances around the timeshare share, regardless of whether you choose to use, let out or exchange your week that year.
What if you do not need your week yourself?
Many timeshare owners do not use all of their weeks every year. Whether you can let out or exchange an unused week depends on your specific contract and on the resort’s or owners’ association’s own rules, not on a general right under Danish law. We cover that question in detail, with the right caveats, in the article can you let out your timeshare week?
If you want help administering and possibly letting out your timeshare week, BY Administration can look into your specific situation and tell you whether and how it can be done. Read more about what that service covers in the article on administering holiday flats and timeshare.
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Frequently asked questions
The key questions, answered briefly.
Have another question?Call +45 50 52 15 37 or book a meeting.
What is timeshare, in short?
Timeshare is an agreement where you pay for the right to use a holiday flat or other accommodation in fixed, defined weeks of the year, typically every year going forward. You own or have a right of use to only part of the property, while other owners have the right to the remaining weeks.
Do you own the property when you have a timeshare share?
It depends on the structure. If you have a deed, you own an ideal share of the property itself, together with the other owners. Other schemes instead give a right of use tied to shares in a company, or a right of use that resembles ordinary letting, without a deed or shares.
Do you pay property value tax on a timeshare flat?
Yes, if you have a deed to your share and use it yourself. You then pay property value tax corresponding to the share of the property you own and the period you have the right to use. If the share is let out exclusively without any use by you, no property value tax is calculated.
How is rental income from a timeshare week that is let out exclusively taxed?
When the share is used exclusively for letting, no property value tax is calculated on it. Instead, the rental income is taxed as ordinary income, and the operating result is calculated under the same rules as for rental properties generally, not under the summer house standard deduction rules.
Is timeshare the same as a summer house?
No. A summer house is typically owned in full and can, as a starting point, be used whenever you like within the limits of the law. A timeshare share only gives you ownership or a right of use to a specific, defined part of the property, typically some weeks a year, and it has its own tax rules.
What does a timeshare service charge cover?
The service charge typically covers maintenance, operation and administration of the property and any shared facilities. Its size and how it is collected are set by the individual resort or owners’ association and stated in your contract, not in a general Danish law.
Can you let out your timeshare week if you do not need it yourself?
It depends on your specific contract and on the resort’s or owners’ association’s own rules, not on a general right under Danish law. We cover that question thoroughly in a separate article, where we also explain what BY Administration can help with.
