CESOP

On 1 January 2024, new EU legislation was introduced that requires payment service providers to submit data on certain cross-border payments. They must submit this data to the Swedish Tax Agency, which then forwards it to the European Commission for storage in its centralised database: the Central Electronic System on Payment Information (CESOP).

The purpose of CESOP is to prevent VAT fraud and help to ensure fair competition between businesses.

Who is required to submit data?

The obligation to provide information applies to you as a payment service provider when the number of cross-border payments in Sweden is at least 26 per quarter for one and the same payee.

Payment service providers

The term “payment service provider” refers to:

electronic money institutions
registered issuers of electronic money
non-Swedish electronic money institutions within the EEA
branches of electronic money institutions established outside the EEA
payment institutions, registered payment service providers and foreign payment institutions within the EEA
postal payment (postgiro) institutions within the EEA

Cross-border payments

The term “cross-border payment” refers to a payment made by a payer in an EU country to a payee in either another EU country or a non-EU country.

Payment services

The term “payment service” refers to:

the execution of payment transactions, including the transfer of funds to payment accounts – through account-based payments, direct debit, credit and debit cards, or other payment instruments
the execution of payment transactions, when access to funds is provided by a credit facility – through account-based payments, direct debit, credit and debit cards, or other payment instruments
the issue of payment instruments, or redemption of transaction amounts, when a payment instrument has been used
money transfers

Payments, payment transactions and money transfers

The term “payment” refers to a payment transaction or money transfer.

A payment transaction is a deposit, withdrawal or transfer of funds initiated by a payer or payee.

A money transfer is a payment service where:

funds are received from a payer – without a payment account being opened in the name of the payer or payee – solely for the purpose of transferring the corresponding amount to a payee or another payment service provider acting on behalf of the payee; or
funds are received on behalf of the recipient and made available to the recipient.

Submit data every quarter

You must submit data on applicable cross-border payments every quarter. The Swedish Tax Agency must receive the data by the last day of the month following the quarter to which the data relates.

Submit data for January-March by 30 April.
Submit data for April-June by 31 July.
Submit data for July-September by 31 October.
Submit data for October-December by 31 January.

These data submission deadlines cannot be extended.

Submit data in XML format

You must submit data in an XML file based on the Payment Data XML Schema Definition (Payment Data XSD) developed by the European Commission.

Further information is available on the EU Commission’s CESOP-related webpage:

Tackling VAT fraud in e-commerce – CESOP (European Commission)

User guides, schema definitions and associated XSD files are updated continuously. At present, user guide version v6.00 and schema definition version v4.03 should be used for reporting.

When submitting data, The Swedish Tax Agency performs a validation corresponding to the EU Commission’s validation module v1.8.0. If you need to correct previously submitted data, it is important that you always use the version of the schema specified above.

All previous, current and upcoming versions of user guides, schema definitions, and associated XSD files, are available on the European Commission’s website:

XSD user guide and corresponding XSD (Circabc)

Submit your data via our e-service

As a payment service provider, you must submit CESOP data via the Swedish Tax Agency’s file transfer e-service, which is called “E-transport”.

E-transport (in Swedish)

You need a Swedish Corporate Identity Number

In order to use E-transport, you need a Swedish Corporate Identity Number. If you do not have a Swedish Corporate Identity Number, you can request one via our e-service “Registration of foreign companies in Sweden”. Under the heading “Select the reason for applying for a Swedish corporate identity number”, choose “Other reason” and then write “CESOP” in the text box.

Registration of foreign companies in Sweden

Buy the required certificate from Expisoft

In addition to a Swedish Corporate Identity Number, you need the "Server identification/Organizational identification and functional certificate" issued by Expisoft:

Server identification / Organizational identification and functional certificate (Expisoft)

There is no other method to log in to e-transport. Only a certificate from Expisoft can be used for the e-transport service. It is an organizational certificate, so it is possible to use one certificate per company, if it is installed so that several people can use it.

Further information in Swedish about certificates and Transport Layer Security is available here:

Certificate and TLS (in Swedish)

If you have problems logging in

If you have installed the Expisoft certificate, but are still having problems logging in, you can do the following:

Check that the Expisoft certificate (server credentials/organisational credentials) is installed in the browser.
Check the validity period of the certificate.

If you still cannot log in, you may need to install another file (a root certificate). The root certificate shows that the certificate (server credentials/organisational credentials) you installed previously is a trusted certificate issued by Expisoft.

Download the root certificate from Expisoft’s website.

ExpiTrust e-Tjanstelegitimationer Kort CA v4 (Expisoft)

To download the certificate to your computer, click on “ExpiTrust e-Tjansteidentificationer Kort CA v4.cer”
Double-click the downloaded file and click “Open” to open it.
Click “Install certificate”.
Follow the steps outlined in the wizard that has opened.
- When asked in which location you wish to store the certificate, select “Local computer”.
- Choose to place all certificates in the Trusted Root Certification Authorities certificate store.
The root certificate has now been installed under Trusted Root Certificate Authorities.
When the installation is complete, refresh your browser and try logging in to E-transport again.

Register to submit CESOP data in the online form

The final step is to register to submit CESOP data via E-transport, which you do by filling in the online form below.

Please note: the Swedish Tax Agency will not send you a confirmation message when we have received your registration application.

You can use both small and capital letters, digits and the most common punctuation marks when you fill in the online form. Plus (+) and percent (%) signs are invalid. Write plus and percent using letters instead.

If you use invalid characters, the online form cannot be submitted.

Given name and surname * (mandatory)

Email address * (mandatory)

Telephone number * (mandatory)

Write the number using digits only, without spaces and hyphens.

Corporate identity number * (mandatory)

Enter the name of the service you wish to use E-transport for

Your application is a public record. It will be processed in accordance with the Swedish Tax Agency's procedures for processing and storage of personal data.

Processing of personal data (opens in new window)

Further information in Swedish about E-transport is available here:

E-transport (in Swedish)

Test your file before submitting it

You can use our test service to check whether your XML file is formatted correctly before you submit it. This service will confirm whether your file matches the parameters set out in the European Commission’s technical specification.

To use the test service, you must have a valid certificate and be registered to report CESOP data via E-transport.

Test service (in Swedish)

Submit and validate your data

As a payment services provider, you have an obligation to submit data of certain cross-border payments. The Swedish Tax Agency is then responsible for transferring the data to the Central Electronic System on Payment Information (CESOP) database.

Important:

Please be aware that errors in the submitted data can only be corrected by the payment services provider in question.
A file is only approved when CESOP issues the validation result message “Validated”.

File validation is a two-step process:

Initial validation: by the Swedish Tax Agency, on receipt of a file.
Extended validation: by CESOP.

The validation results of each step are available via E-transport.

If errors are detected at the initial validation stage:

Correct the errors and submit the file again.

If CESOP issues the validation result message Fully Rejected:

Submit a new corrected file. See chapter 3.3.3 of the XSD User Guide.

If CESOP issues the validation result message Partially Rejected

Correct the entries that contain errors, and submit a new file. See chapter 3.3.3 of the XSD User Guide.

Retrieve validation results manually, or automatically via E-transport:

Documentation and reporting fees

The Swedish Tax Agency may charge you a documentation fee if you have not met your documentation obligations due to negligence or carelessness, or a reporting fee if it is evident that you have failed to report the data on time or in the correct way.

The documentation fee amounts to 0.3% of your turnover for the financial year preceding the financial year in which you were required to submit your data. The minimum documentation fee is SEK 3,000, and the maximum SEK 3 million.

The reporting fee amounts to 0.1% of your turnover for the financial year preceding the financial year in which you were required to submit your data. The minimum reporting fee is SEK 1,000, and the maximum SEK 1 million.

How to contact us and sign up to receive CESOP information

For general inquiries regarding the CESOP regulations and submitting CESOP data to the Swedish Tax Agency, it's recommended that you complete the form below for assistance.

If you wish to receive information regarding CESOP from the Swedish Tax Agency, please notify us by using the contact form below (specify newsletter in the “Your question” field).