[antris]

> you have to estimate your income for the year, and the tax office gives you a tax rate. Anything above that level gets taxed at an exorbitant amount (>50% for the 100k$ salary)

The higher tax rate is a safety mechanism in case you would fall into a tax bracket with a higher percentage. This does not mean you are necessarily taxed at a higher rate; you are just saving in case you earn so much that your tax bracket will change.

If you don't fall into a higher tax bracket, you will get the money back when the tax office checks the numbers afterwards.

This system is in place so that you wouldn't get surprised by huge tax deficit when you fall into a new bracket at the end of the year.

[_delirium]

Yes, I had the same thing due to failing to file any kind of form when I first moved to Denmark— they withheld at the top tax rate by default, but then gave me the money back at the end of the year. I didn't have to go through any sort of process to request a refund; it was just automatically deposited in my bank account. They even tacked on 0.5% interest onto the over-withheld amount.