Impostos a Suècia

Company Tax

20.6% (from 2021, reduced from 21.4%)

Tax Rate For Foreign Companies

Resident taxpayers are taxed on global income while foreign taxpayers are taxed only on the profits they make in Sweden. There are no special tax rates for foreign companies.

Capital Gains Taxation

Capital gains from a business-related sale of shares in a resident company are generally tax-exempt (conversely, losses are not deductible). Quoted/listed shares are considered held for business reasons if the company has a holding corresponding to at least 10% of the voting rights or the shares are held in the course of the business for a period of at least one year; while shares that are not quoted or listed are always considered as held for business reasons. Capital gains that are not considered business-related are treated as commercial income and are taxed at 20.6%.

Main Allowable Deductions and Tax Credits

Expenses incurred for business operations are generally deductible, including arm's length interest payments, rents and royalties, depreciation, losses and reserves. General start-up expenses for generating and maintaining business income are normally deductible.

Interest expenses on external loans are fully deductible, whereas interest paid to affiliated companies are deductible only if an exception applies under the Swedish interest stripping restrictions and if the arm’s-length principle is respected. Bad debts are deductible if they are proven wholly or partially worthless. However, interest and bad debts related to a company within a jurisdiction which is placed on the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions are non-deductible. Charitable contributions are generally non-deductible.

Certain items such as profit distributions, entertainment expenses exceeding a certain amount and taxes are non-deductible. Double taxation relief is provided for Swedish companies that are taxed abroad. Foreign tax credit may not exceed the amount of Swedish income tax attributable to the foreign-sourced income.

Land improvements may be depreciated at the rate of 5%/year of the acquisition cost, buildings at rates between 2% and 5%/year of the taxable basis. The maximum allowance is 100% of the tax basis of the improvement/building.

Net operating losses can be carried forward indefinitely, except in the case of a direct or indirect change in the ownership structure of the company. The carryback of losses is technically not permitted; however, the tax allocation reserve ("periodiseringsfond") allows companies to offset their incurred losses by profits of previous years.

Other Corporate Taxes

The annual real estate tax rate on business premises ranges from 0.2% to 2.2% of the tax assessed value (determined by tax authorities based on the information provided by the owner on their property). The rate is usually lower for industrial property (around 0.5%).

For the transfer of real properties, a stamp duty of 4.25% is levied on the acquisition value or the value estimated by tax authorities (the highest value is used for the calculation) when the transferee is a legal person. The rate varies between 0.4% and 2% for mortgages.

Mandatory social security charges payable by employers on remuneration to employees (or by the self-employed) are levied at 31.42%. Reduced rates (0% or 10.21%) are applicable for people born between 1938-1953. Pension benefits beyond the mandatory system are customary amongst most Swedish employers. A special salary tax is levied at around 24% on these additional pension premiums/commitments and is deductible for corporate tax purposes.

Various environmental taxes have been introduced in recent years, including the energy tax, carbon tax and sulphur tax.

Other Domestic Resources

Swedish Tax Agency

Consult Doing Business Website, to obtain a summary of the taxes and mandatory contributions.

Tax Rate

Allowable Deductions and Tax Credits

Generally, all expenses related to an employment relation are deductible (including travel expenses, automobile expenses, living allowances on business trips, necessary literature, tools of the trade).
Resident individuals receive personal allowance, deductible from the income tax base, depending on employment income. For low income, the minimum deduction is SEK 14,000 and the maximum is SEK 36,700 (2021).

Personal pension insurance premiums and contributions to restricted pension savings accounts are deductible within certain limits, but only if the employee is not included in an employer-funded company pension plan. Interest costs paid to Swedish or non-Swedish lenders are deductible.

Several tax reductions are available: 50% of the labour costs relating to housekeeping is available (capped at SEK 50,000/year); 30% of the labour costs relating to repair, maintenance and rebuilding of a private dwelling (up to SEK 50,000/year); however, such reductions cannot exceed SEK 50,000 per person per annum. A deduction is also permitted for increased cost of living, generally for 2 to 3 years.

For more information, consult the website of the Swedish Tax Agency.

Special Expatriate Tax Regime

Residents are taxed on global income while non-residents are only taxed on their income received in Sweden.
Non-residents working in Sweden for a Swedish employer or a foreign employer with a permanent establishment in Sweden are taxed a flat rate of 25% at source. The same rate applies when a pension is paid by a Swedish source to a person not tax-resident in Sweden.

Non-residents working for a non-Swedish employer without a permanent establishment in the country are not taxed in Sweden, unless they spend more than 183 days in Sweden in a 12-month period.
If an individual has social insurance in another country, the employer is not liable for contributions in Sweden.