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Information for companies in connection to the coronavirus
On this page, you will find all information important to companies affected by coronavirus and COVID-19.
There are several ways for your company to improve the financial situation, and we will guide you through them. You will also find information about what happens if you cannot leave your tax returns or other information on time. Please note that the information is separated for these two target groups:
- private business owners (enskild näringsverksamhet) and part-owners of trading companies (delägare i handelsbolag)
- limited companies (aktiebolag).
The reason is slightly different rules. Please be sure to read the right information.
Private business owners and part-owners of traded companies
Here you will find all appropriate information for you as a private business owner or part-owner of a trading company. Use it as a check list or just read the parts suitable for your situation.
Do you have employees?
There are several ways for you to receive financial aid for the costs you have for your employees. There are also temporary rules on tax exemption for gifts up to SEK 1,000 and free parking for employees.
Parking
The Swedish Riksdag has decided there will be a temporary tax exemption for employees who have access to free parking at their place of work. This tax exemption came into effect on 1 June but applies retroactively from 1 April 2020 until 31 December 2020 for all occupations in the whole of Sweden.
Gifts
Employers may also give employees tax-free gifts up to a value of SEK 1,000 per employee. The employer must not give such gifts in cash but may give them in the form of goods or gift cards that cannot be exchanged for cash.
The rules for gifts apply from 1 June to 31 December 2020.
This tax exemption applies alongside tax-free gifts that are already allowed, such as Christmas gifts.
Medical tests
As an employer, you can pay for tests for your employees to check whether they have or have had a disease that is classed as a danger to society in the Communicable Diseases Act without them being taxed on benefits. COVID-19 is classified as such a disease. Testing falls under preventive treatment in the occupational health services.
Regular social security contributions from 1 July
Companies were able to reduce social security contributions (including allmän löneavgift) for payouts during March to June for up to 30 employees. Regular rules apply from 1 July.
Reduced social security contributions for yourself
Your own social security contributions (in Swedish egenavgift) continue to be reduced, which can affect your taxes.
Short-time work allowance from Tillväxtverket (the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth)
Short-time work allowance (also called short-time layoff) means that you can reduce your employees' working hours and receive financial support from the central government to compensate for a significant part of the the costs for retaining the employee. You can apply for the allowance at Tillväxtverket (the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth). Short-time work allowance does not affect your possibility to receive reduced payroll taxes, nor what you declare in your PAYE tax return.
Compensation from Försäkringskassan for high sick pay costs
All employers in Sweden are protected against high sick pay costs. The protection means that all employers can receive compensation if sick pay costs are extraordinarily high. This is usually done automatically once per year, and the compensation is limited. Now the government has decided that all employers with sick pay costs, shall be compensated for all of them during April and May.
You do not have to apply for this. Just declare what you have paid out during April and May in your general PAYE tax return for these months. The Swedish Tax Agency will then forward the information to Försäkringskassan, who will pay you the compensation as soon as possible.
Is your revenue worse than expected?
Many businesses have decreased revenue due to coronavirus, and they run worse than expected. If you are in that situation, there are several things you can do to ease your tax situation.
Apply for reorientation support
Companies in Sweden can apply for reorientation support for the new support periods May and June-July up until 30 November 2020. The support is available for companies which have had an annual turnover of at least 250,000 SEK and a considerable loss of turnover due to the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the same months last year. The maximum support per company is 75 million SEK for May and 8 million SEK for June-July.
The e-service is available in Swedish only.
Adjust your preliminary tax by submitting a new preliminary tax return for 2020
You can adjust the forecast on which you base your monthly tax during 2020, and in that way you will also adjust the tax. If, for example, you anticipated a surplus during 2020, and now face the risk of a lower surplus or even a loss, you can adjust your preliminary tax for 2020. Then you pay less or no tax during the following months of this year. You can also be refunded paid taxes for January and February.
The possibility of a lower general payroll tax (egenavgifter in Swedish) also applies for private business owners. This means, that even if you would declare a surplus in your new preliminary tax refund, the general payroll would be lower: 10.21 per cent compared to the usual 28.97 per cent. The lower payroll applies for all of 2020 and up to a surplus of SEK 100,000. On higher amounts, the usual general payroll applies.
You can submit as many preliminary tax returns as you wish during the year. In that way, you do not have to pay too much preliminary tax.
Receive a tax refund – make a deposition to a tax allocation reserve (periodiseringsfond) in your income tax return for the year
Every year you can make a deposition to a tax allocation reserve (periodiseringsfond) in your income tax return. You can deposit up to 30 per cent of your profit into such a reserve, and you do not have to pay tax for it now. You must declare it in your income tax return for 2026 at the latest. But before that, you do not have to pay any taxes or fees for the amount.
Because of the corona situation, you can currently deposit 100 per cent of your profit to a tax allocation reserve, but not more than SEK 1 million. That also decreases your income tax and general payroll tax, and it may also increase your tax refund for 2019, depending on what you paid then. If you submit your income tax return on 4 May at the latest, you can receive the refund in the beginning of June.
The usual rules for tax allocation reserves still apply. If your company has a big surplus (more than SEK 3,333,333) you will have better possibilities to deposit an amount to your tax allocation reserve according to the usual rules than according to the temporary ones.
The deposition affects your pensionable salary (PGI)
Please note that when you result decreases, your pensionable salary (PGI) also decreases. Since the PGI forms the basis of your pension, a lower income can lead to a lower pension.
Refund of preliminary tax for 2019 – change your preliminary tax return for 2019
If you cannot wait until June for your tax refund, you can instead correct your preliminary tax for 2019. In other words, the tax you paid on an on-going basis during last year. This way, you can have taxes you have already paid refunded.
If you also make a deposition to a tax allocation reserve, according to point 2, your tax refund will be much higher than if you should have declared your result before the deposition.
Correct your preliminary income tax return for 2019
In order to correct your preliminary tax return for 2019, submit a new tax return with the same information as the usual income tax return. Make sure you declare the same result, so that the refunded amount will be correct. The new tax return will lead to a correction afterwards of the preliminary tax you paid on an on-going basis during last year. Please note that if your preliminary tax for last year decreases, your income tax refund will decrease with the same amount. For example, if you receive a refund of SEK 30,000 after having changed your preliminary tax, your tax refund will decrease with the same amount.
You can submit a new preliminary tax return for 2019 until 30 June 2020.
Are your taxes correct, but you need more time to pay them (payment respite)?
You can apply for a respite for paying some taxes and fees you have already declared (this is also called deferral, or anstånd in Swedish). If you do, you must pay an interest on the respite amount. After six months, you must also pay a fee of 0.2 per cent per month of the whole respite amount. Neither the interest nor the fee is deductible in your business.
Temporary payment respite of general payroll taxes, deducted tax and VAT
You can postpone the tax for one year from the date of the decision. This respite applies for taxes for
- up to three months, if you declare taxes once a month
- a quarter of a year, if you declare VAT once a quarter
- a year, if you declare VAT once a year.
The respite must apply for the time between January and September 2020.
You must pay an interest of 1.25 per cent on the respite amount. After six months, you must also pay an application fee of 0.2 per cent of the respite amount per started calendar month.
Ansök om tillfälligt anstånd med skattebetalning (in Swedish)
Payment respite of taxes
You can postpone payment of your taxes up to two months, if you can show us that it would gain you and that you will be able to pay later. Because of the extensive consequences of the coronavirus, you can postpone the payment for four months or even longer. You must pay an interest of 1.25 per cent of the whole amount.
It can be very hard to show us that you will be able to pay later, since the economic situation is very unstable for most people at the moment.
Are you unable to submit your tax return on time?
Tax returns due 12 March to 31 August
Corona can make it difficult to submit your tax return on time. Therefore, you do not need to pay any late payment fees if you leave your tax return or periodic compilation (periodisk sammanställning) within a month after deadline. This applies to tax returns due between 12 March and 31 August.
Has your unemployment fund asked whether you have dormant business activities?
Dormant business operations - sole traders
All unemployment funds have conditions for the right to compensation. Since these conditions may vary, you need to contact your unemployment fund to ask about the relevant conditions for your case.
There is sometimes a condition that business operations must be dormant. The concept of dormancy does not exist in tax legislation, i.e. it is not possible to report your company as dormant. On the other hand, it is possible to suspend your business operations, i.e. you do not carry out any trading; neither do you sell any goods/services or take on costs for marketing or developing the business.
However, there are two things you need to consider in this context.
Operations may not be suspended indefinitely since you may then be considered to have wound up your business, which leads to certain fiscal consequences.
For example: if you suspend operations in 2020, they can be suspended until the end of 2021. To qualify as suspended operations, one requirement is that you intend to restart operations in the future.
You also need to bear in mind that you still have certain obligations, even if your business operations are suspended. As long as your company is not completely wound up and you intend to resume operations in the future, you must:
- Submit an account of operations in your Income Statement, even if you report zero turnover
- Report VAT, as long as the company is registered for VAT, even if no purchases or sales have been made. Read more about VAT rules when your business is suspended under the heading "Have you suspended your business operations?"
- Report employer’s social security contributions as long as the company is registered as an employer, even if you have not paid any salaries or other compensation.
Example
Jelena runs an advertising agency. During the COVID-19 pandemic, her customers say that they must unfortunately suspend all ongoing and planned commissions. There is no other demand for Jelena's services, so she decides to suspend operations until demand for her services increases again. During late summer she starts to work again on a small scale with her advertising agency when an established customer has inquired about an event for Christmas. Jelena's temporary suspension of operations from the spring to late summer does not mean that she has wound up her company, but that she has taken a break. Even though operations were down for several months, Jelena has submitted her VAT and employer forms with zero sums. Of course, she also submitted her income tax return in the spring.
If you still wish to wind up and de-register your company completely, read more about it here:
VAT
We have a separate summary of common VAT issues arisen by the coronavirus pandemic:
Limited companies
Here you will find all appropriate information for limited companies. Use it as a check list or just read the parts suitable for your situation.
Do you have employees?
There are several ways for you to receive financial aid for the costs you have for your employees. There are also temporary rules on tax exemption for gifts up to SEK 1,000 and free parking for employees.
Parking
The Swedish Riksdag has decided there will be a temporary tax exemption for employees who have access to free parking at their place of work. This tax exemption came into effect on 1 June but applies retroactively from 1 April 2020 until 31 December 2020 for all occupations in the whole of Sweden.
Gifts
Employers may also give employees tax-free gifts up to a value of SEK 1,000 per employee. The employer must not give such gifts in cash but may give them in the form of goods or gift cards that cannot be exchanged for cash.
The rules for gifts apply from 1 June to 31 December 2020.
This tax exemption applies alongside tax-free gifts that are already allowed, such as Christmas gifts.
Medical tests
As an employer, you can pay for tests for your employees to check whether they have or have had a disease that is classed as a danger to society in the Communicable Diseases Act without them being taxed on benefits. COVID-19 is classified as such a disease. Testing falls under preventive treatment in the occupational health services.
Regular social security contributions from 1 July
Companies were able to reduce social security contributions (including allmän löneavgift) for payouts during March to June for up to 30 employees. Regular rules apply from 1 July.
Short-time work allowance from Tillväxtverket (the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth)
Short-time work allowance (also called short-time layoff) means that you can reduce your employees' working hours and receive financial support from the central government to compensate for a significant part of the the costs for retaining the employee. You can apply for the allowance at Tillväxtverket (the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth). Short-time work allowance does not affect your possibility to receive reduced payroll taxes, nor what you declare in your PAYE tax return.
Compensation from Försäkringskassan for high sick pay costs
All employers in Sweden are protected against high sick pay costs. The protection means that all employers can receive compensation if sick pay costs are extraordinarily high. This is usually done automatically once per year, and the compensation is limited. Now the government has decided that all employers with sick pay costs, shall be compensated for all of them during April and May.
You do not have to apply for this. Just declare what you have paid out during April and May in your general PAYE tax return for these months. The Swedish Tax Agency will then forward the information to Försäkringskassan, who will pay you the compensation as soon as possible.
Is your revenue worse than expected?
Many businesses have decreased revenue due to coronavirus, and they run worse than expected. If you are in that situation, there are several things you can do to ease your tax situation.
Apply for reorientation support
Companies in Sweden can apply for reorientation support for the new support periods May and June-July up until 30 November 2020. The support is available for companies which have had an annual turnover of at least 250,000 SEK and a considerable loss of turnover due to the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the same months last year. The maximum support per company is 75 million SEK for May and 8 million SEK for June-July.
The e-service is available in Swedish only.
Adjust your preliminary tax by submitting a new preliminary tax return for 2020
You can adjust the forecast on which you base your monthly tax during the actual financial year, and in that way you will also adjust the tax. If, for example, you anticipated a surplus during this financial year, and now face the risk of a lower surplus or even a loss, you can adjust your preliminary tax for the financial year. Then you pay less or no tax during the following months of this year. You can also be refunded paid taxes for the months of the financial year that have already passed.
You can submit as many preliminary tax returns as you wish during the year. In that way, you do not have to pay too much preliminary tax.
Receive a tax refund – make a deposition to a tax allocation reserve (periodiseringsfond) in your income tax return for the year
Every year you can make a deposition to a tax allocation reserve (periodiseringsfond) in your income tax return. You can deposit up to 25 per cent of your profit into such a reserve, and you do not have to pay tax for it now. You must declare it in your income tax return for 2026 at the latest. But before that, you do not have to pay any taxes or fees for the amount.
Please note that the temporary rules of increased depositions to a tax allocation reserve, only apply to private business owners and part-time owners of trading companies. Limited companies cannot make larger depositions than usual.
Receive a refund of preliminary tax from last year, if your company has paid too much – correct the company’s preliminary income tax return for the financial year
If your company, during the last financial year, paid what is now turned out to be too much preliminary tax, you can have the difference refunded by correcting your preliminary income tax return for the last year.
If you already have submitted your income tax return, or are supposed to do so soon, you can start by looking at the result. After that, you can use the same basis to submit a new preliminary income tax return for the last financial year, in case there is any tax to get refunded. Thus, you can correct the tax you paid on an ongoing basis during the last financial year.
Your company can submit a new income tax return up to six months after the end of the last financial year.
Are your taxes correct, but you need more time to pay them (payment respite)?
You can apply for a respite for paying some taxes and fees you have already declared (this is also called deferral, or anstånd in Swedish). If you do, you must pay an interest on the respite amount. After six months, you must also pay a fee of 0.2 per cent per month of the whole respite amount. Neither the interest nor the fee is deductible in your business.
Temporary payment respite of general payroll taxes, deducted tax and VAT
You can postpone the tax for one year from the date of the decision. This respite applies for taxes for
- up to three months, if you declare taxes once a month
- a quarter of a year, if you declare VAT once a quarter
- a year, if you declare VAT once a year.
The respite must apply for the time between January and September 2020.
You must pay an interest of 1.25 per cent on the respite amount. After six months, you must also pay an application fee of 0.2 per cent of the respite amount per started calendar month.
Ansök om tillfälligt anstånd med skattebetalning (in Swedish)
Payment respite of taxes
You can postpone payment of your taxes up to two months, if you can show us that it would gain you and that you will be able to pay later. Because of the extensive consequences of the coronavirus, you can postpone the payment for four months or even longer. You must pay an interest of 1.25 per cent of the whole amount.
It can be very hard to show us that you will be able to pay later, since the economic situation is very unstable for most people at the moment.
Are you unable to submit your tax return on time?
Corona can make it difficult to submit your tax return on time. Because of this, you do not need to pay any late payment fees if you submit your tax return or periodic compilation within a month after deadline. The only condition is that the tax return is due some time between 12 March and 31 August.
The fact that you do not need to pay any late payment fees, does not mean that you get a formal respite. Therefore, we still need you to submit your tax return, and pay your tax, as soon as possible.
VAT
We have a separate summary of common VAT issues arisen by the coronavirus pandemic:
Liability for legal persons’ unpaid taxes and fees
If you represent a company that is a legal person, you are normally personally liable for the company’s unpaid taxes and fees. This is called that you have a representative’s responsibility (företrädaransvar in Swedish). During the corona pandemic, the Swedish Tax Agency will not claim this responsibility from you.
The only exception is if a person obviously abuses the possibility to elude the representative’s responsibility.
If you have any questions
Please contact our call centre if you have any questions:
- From Sweden: 0771-567 567
- From abroad: +46 8 564 851 60
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