What kind of company are you? Active and Passive NFE explained

When you give us your tax details, we ask one question about what kind of company you are. Your answer decides whether we also need tax details for the people who own your company. For most businesses, we do not. This page explains the options and what each one means. It applies to both our UK and our Danish accounts.

Why are you asking what kind of company we are?

New tax rules apply to us from 1 January 2026 — the International Tax Compliance Regulations 2025 in the UK, and Council Directive (EU) 2023/2226 as implemented in Denmark. They ask us to record what kind of business each company customer is.

The answer decides one thing: whether we also need tax details for the people who own or control your company.

It is one question and one answer.

Does this differ for a UK account and a Danish account?

No. The test for what kind of company you are comes from the same international standard, so the options are identical whichever Moneff company holds your account — Safenetpay Services Company Ltd in the UK, or Safenetpay ApS in Denmark.

What differs is only who we report to when reporting is required: HM Revenue & Customs for a UK account, and Skattestyrelsen for a Danish account. That does not change the question we ask you or the answer you should give.

What do "Active NFE" and "Passive NFE" mean?

NFE stands for Non-Financial Entity. It means any company that is not a bank or similar financial firm.

An Active NFE earns most of its money by trading — selling goods, providing services, employing people. A shop, a builder, an agency, a clinic or a software company are all Active. We do not need tax details for the people who own an Active NFE.

A Passive NFE earns most of its money by holding things — investments, shares, rented property it does not actively manage, royalties or interest. A family investment company or a property holding company are Passive. We do need tax details for the people who own or control a Passive NFE.

You do not need to work out which one you are. Choosing from the list below does that for you.

Which option should I choose?

Choose the first option that is true for your company. If two are true, choose the one nearer the top — one is enough. Most companies choose the first.

• Trading business — most of your income comes from selling goods or services.
• Listed company or group member — your shares are traded on a stock exchange, or you belong to a group whose shares are.
• Government body or central bank — including a company wholly owned by one.
• Holding company of trading businesses — you mainly hold shares in, or provide services to, subsidiaries that are trading businesses. Not for investment funds.
• New company, not yet trading — set up less than 24 months ago, not trading yet, investing capital to start a business.
• Winding down or reorganising — you were not a financial firm in the last five years and intend to continue as a non-financial business.
• Group financing or treasury — you provide financing or hedging only to companies in your own group, not to outside companies.
• Charity or non-profit — a registered charity or other not-for-profit organisation.
• Regulated financial firm — for example a bank, payment or e-money firm, broker, fund or insurer.
• None of these — none of the above describes your company.
• I am not sure — you cannot answer the question.

What happens after I answer?

If you chose any option from Trading business down to Charity or non-profit, we ask for your company's tax details only: the countries where the company pays tax, and a tax number for each country that needs one. We do not ask about your owners or directors.

If you chose None of these or I am not sure, we also ask for tax details for the people who own or control the company.

If you chose Regulated financial firm, we will look at your company separately and come back to you. You do not need to do anything else for now.

Your answer does not decide whether your company is reported to HM Revenue & Customs or to Skattestyrelsen. That depends on where your company pays tax, which we ask separately.

What if I am not sure which option to choose?

Choose I am not sure. It is a normal answer and nothing goes wrong.

We will ask for tax details for the people who own or control the company. Under the rules that is the safer answer when the position is not clear.

If you later find out which option fits, tell us and we will update it.

What if none of the options fit our company?

Choose None of these. We will ask for tax details for the people who own or control the company.

Who counts as someone who owns or controls the company?

Any person who owns or controls more than 25% of the company.

If nobody owns more than 25%, it is the person who runs the company day to day.

For each of them we need the countries where they pay tax and a tax number for each country that needs one. We already hold their name, address and date of birth, so we do not ask again.

Why do you need owner details for some companies and not others?

The rules look at who is behind a company only when the company mainly holds investments rather than trading. A shop, a builder or an agency is a real business, so the rules stop at the company.

A company whose main income is dividends, rent, interest or royalties is treated as a way of holding assets, so the rules ask about the people behind it.

Our company is new and not trading yet. What happens later?

Choose New company, not yet trading and tell us the date the company was set up.

That answer lasts 24 months from that date. After 24 months we will ask the question again, and you will have 90 days to answer. By then most companies are trading and choose Trading business.

If we hear nothing, we have to treat the earlier answer as out of date and ask for tax details for the people who own or control the company.

We are a charity. Is that all?

Choose Charity or non-profit.

Depending on the country your charity is registered in, we may come back to you with one more question. The rules treat charities differently from one country to another. For most charities nothing further is needed.

What if our company changes?

Tell us if the ownership of your company changes, or if what the company does changes.

We will ask the question again. It is the same one question.

Where can I read the rules myself?

The definitions of an Active and a Passive NFE come from the Common Reporting Standard, an international standard for exchanging tax information. They are in Section VIII, part D, paragraph 9. This is the same source for both our UK and our Danish accounts.

For a UK account, HM Revenue & Customs explains the definitions at IEIM403400 on gov.uk.

For a Danish account, the same standard applies through Council Directive (EU) 2023/2226 and the Danish rules that implement it. Skattestyrelsen publishes guidance at skat.dk.

If you are unsure how the rules apply to your company, please speak to your own tax adviser. We cannot give tax advice.