Enhedslisten’s political spokesperson Pelle Dragsted says his party will not vote for the government’s planned tax increase unless low and ordinary incomes get an equivalent or larger tax cut.
DR reported on August 19, 2026 that Dragsted has issued the demand to the government he supports in the Folketing. According to DR, he states that Enhedslisten will not raise taxes for people with low and ordinary incomes, not even temporarily.
The measure at issue comes from the government’s platform. It would freeze a number of threshold amounts in the tax system for two years, so deductions do not rise with prices and wages. In practice, that functions as a tax increase for all taxpayers.
The government plans to use part of the revenue to lower VAT on food and remove it entirely on fruit and vegetables. Per DR, the Ministry of Taxation says differentiated VAT cannot take effect before 2028 for technical reasons. It remains unclear whether the government wants the threshold freeze to begin before then.
Tax and Growth Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt kept his options open on TV Avisen on June 4, 2026, shortly after taking office. He pointed to other measures, including free public transport for young people, free dental care, and support for the poorest pensioners. He declined to promise that the changes would match one to one, DR reports.
Dragsted made his demand in connection with an interview about new calculations from the liberal think tank Cepos. Those figures show that unemployed people and working-class families are hit considerably harder by the planned tax increase than high-income director families. Earlier Cepos calculations, cited by DR, found that a working-class family stands to gain 8,700 kroner a year once the full package is implemented.
SF gives no guarantee
SF’s tax and finance spokesperson, Sofie Lippert, will not promise that the tax increase stays out of force until VAT is lowered. She says the governing platform expresses an ambition for the two measures to run in parallel. Engel-Schmidt does not wish to comment on Dragsted’s demand, according to DR.
Berlingske reported on August 17, 2026 that Enhedslisten considers lower food VAT decisive for the government’s survival. The outlet adds that the Ministry of Taxation has calculated the food VAT plan at 17.4 billion kroner a year. Politiken reported the same weekend that the party is holding firm on the VAT cuts it secured in the platform.
A framework agreement published by the Ministry of Finance on January 28, 2026 sets aside 6 billion kroner annually from 2028 for lower food VAT or removing VAT on fruit and vegetables. The parties, including Enhedslisten, are to receive the modeling work in the second half of 2026. TV 2 reported on August 11, 2026 that new tax IT systems are the reason for the 2028 timeline, affecting everyday prices.
