Employee Share Plans in Europe and the USA - Sorainen

Employee Share Plans in Europe and the USADenmarkthe amount of any discount in the market value of shares at the time theemployee acquires them.6. Taxation of share disposalsAny gain realised on a share disposal is taxable as a capital gain. The effectivetax rate (for 2010) is 28% or 42% depending on the level of the employee'sincome from shares etc, and provided the employee is not trading in shares.From 2012, the 28% rate is to be reduced to 27% (i.e. from 2012 the two rateswill be 27% and 42%). Grandfathering provisions apply to shares acquired priorto January 2006. These provide for, amongst other things, a tax exemption forgains on minor holdings of listed shares owned for at least 3 years on the date ofdisposal.7. Employee benefit trusts7.1 A Danish resident who is a potential beneficiary of a discretionary trust, but hasno right to any benefits, is not likely to be subject to any Danish tax on propertyheld in the trust. A Danish resident who receives benefits from a discretionaryemployee benefit trust is normally subject to income tax on the value of thebenefits.7.2 A Danish company that makes voluntary payments to an employee benefit trustmay, under normal circumstances, be able to obtain corporation tax relief for thepayments.8. Data protectionThere should be no data protection issues provided that the employee has givenhis specific written consent to the collection, processing and worldwide transferof his personal data in connection with employee share plans. 2424The Act on Processing of Personal Data imposes a number of restrictions on the processing of data,including data relating to employee share plans. In most cases, the processing of data relating to suchplans will be considered necessary for the performance of a contract to which the employee is a party(i.e. the share plan contract). On this basis, the data processing can take place within the EU/EEAwithout the specific consent of the employee. If there is any doubt regarding whether the processing isnecessary for the performance of the contract to which the employee is a party, it would be advisableto obtain the prior written consent of the employee for the processing of the data and consent isrequired for the transfer of the data to a group company or other person (for example, a planadministrator) located in a non-EU/EEA country (unless some other legal basis e.g. a "safe harbour"exists), should the latter be required under the plan. Please note that if a Danish company processespersonal data that reveals the employee’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious orphilosophical beliefs, trade-union membership, information about the employee’s health or sex life, thedata can only be processed if the employee gives his explicit written consent and the processing ofUK/1729295/03 38 September 2010