Growth Support (“växa-stöd”): special calculation of employer contributions
If your business qualifies for Growth Support, you are entitled to a reduced rate of employer contributions for up to 24 consecutive calendar months for your first and/or second employee. Growth Support is a type of “de minimis” aid, which means it is a subsidy of minor significance. A limited company or partnership is not entitled to Growth Support for compensation paid to a part-owner or partner, or one of their close relatives.
Under the new rules, which came into force on 1 January 2025, Growth Support entitlement has been extended to cover a maximum of two employees employed after 30 April 2024. If you have been granted Growth Support, you only pay pension contributions (10.21%) on compensation up to SEK 35,000 per calendar month. To claim the subsidy, enter an X in box 063 for the relevant employee(s) in your PAYE return. The new rules apply to compensation you pay on or after 1 January 2025. You pay the full rate of employer contributions (31.42%) on compensation above SEK 35,000.
If you hired your first employee before 1 May 2024, you cannot take advantage of the new Growth Support rules for with respect to that person. However, you are entitled to continued Growth Support on compensation up to SEK 25,000 per calendar month during the first 24 months of employment, in accordance with the previous rules. To claim this subsidy, enter an X in box 062 in your PAYE return. You pay the full employer contributions rate (31.42%) on compensation above SEK 25,000.
Rules on extended Growth Support for one or two individuals employed after 30 April 2024
Under the new Growth Support rules, you only pay pension contributions on compensation up to SEK 35,000 per calendar month paid to your first two employees, provided that their employment began after 30 April 2024. This applies to businesses that meet the eligibility requirements for Growth Support between 1 January 2024 (or the start of business operations if later) and the individual's employment start date.
If you already had an employee on 1 January 2024, you are entitled to Growth Support for an additional employee hired on or after 1 May 2024. This only applies if your first employee was still employed by you when you hired the second person.
Which types of businesses are eligible for Growth Support?
- A natural person (sole trader) who has run an active business with a maximum of one employee since 1 January 2024.
- A limited company that has carried out business activities since 1 January 2024, either without any employees, or with one employee only. If such a limited company has paid only one part-owner or close relative a salary, this must not be taken into account in assessing the company's eligibility for Growth Support.
- A partnership that has run an active business with a maximum of one employee since 1 January 2024. The partnership can have a maximum of two partners.
When determining whether your business is eligible for Growth Support, you can disregard any employee recruitment involving a maximum total contributions-liable compensation payment (to the same individual) of SEK 5,000 since 1 January 2024.
Close relatives
A close relative can be any of the following:
- spouse
- parent
- grandparent
- child (including stepchild and foster child) and child’s spouse
- sibling, sibling’s spouse and sibling’s children
- estate of deceased person in which you or a close relative are a part owner
The following are also considered spouses:
- individuals in a registered civil partnership
- cohabiting partners who have previously been married to each other
- cohabiting partners who have – or have had – children together
Grandchildren, great-grandchildren and so on also count as children.
Examples of businesses eligible for Growth Support
Example: a part-owner and her close relative
Maja and her friend Mikael jointly own a limited company which employed Maja’s adult son Petrus on 1 December 2024. Maja has paid herself a salary since 1 January 2024, but Mikael has not. The company meets the basic requirements to qualify for Growth Support. However, it cannot be granted Growth Support for Maja since she is a part-owner. It cannot receive Growth Support for Petrus either, since he is a close relative of Maja.
Example: a business that is not eligible for Growth Support
Oskar runs an active sole trader business, and has had two employees up to and including March 2024. They have both received a total of more than SEK 5,000 in compensation. On 2 January 2025, Oskar hired two new employees. Since he has had two employees since 1 January 2024, his business does not qualify for Growth Support. His business cannot receive Growth Support for compensation paid to the employees hired on 2 January 2025.
Example: two employees after 1 May 2024
Alma’s sole trader business meets the basic requirements to qualify for Growth Support. She hires Isak on 1 July 2024 and Eva on 1 October 2024. Both are employed on a permanent basis, work full-time, and receive a monthly salary of SEK 32,000.
Alma is entitled to reduced employer’s contributions (10.21%) up to the threshold of SEK 25,000 per month for the compensation she pays Isak between 1 July and 31 December 2024. Alma pays employer contributions at 31.42% on the remaining SEK 7,000 above that threshold. From 1 January 2025, Alma is entitled to Growth Support for Isak, and pays employer contributions at 10.21% on his entire monthly salary of SEK 32,000. Alma is entitled to Growth Support for Isak for up to 24 consecutive calendar months.
Alma is not eligible for Growth Support for compensation she pays Eva between 1 October and 31 December 2024. However, she is entitled to Growth Support for Eva from 1 January 2025, and pays employer contributions at 10.21% on her entire monthly salary of SEK 32,000. Alma is entitled to Growth Support for Eva for up to 24 consecutive calendar months.
Example: the first employee leaves before the second employee starts
Robert runs a limited company. He employs Robin on 1 December 2023. Robin is hired on a permanent, full-time basis, but finds another job and leaves in mid-February 2024. On 1 June 2024, Robert employs Anja on a permanent, full-time basis. She receives a monthly salary of SEK 36,000. The company is not entitled to Growth Support for Anja since Robin's employment term ends before Anja's starts.
Example: a second employee with a monthly salary of SEK 38,000
Samuel runs a limited company that meets the basic requirements to qualify for Growth Support. Samuel pays himself a monthly salary. The company has had one other employee since 1 January 2022. On 1 November 2024, the company hires another employee, Emilia, on a permanent, full-time basis. She receives a monthly salary of SEK 38,000.
The company is not eligible for Growth Support for the compensation paid to Emilia between 1 November and 31 December 2024.
However, it can receive Growth Support for compensation paid to her from 1 January 2025 onwards. Samuel's company pays reduced employer contributions (10.21%) on her compensation up to SEK 35,000. The company pays the full rate of employer contributions (31.42%) on the remaining monthly compensation payment of SEK 3,000. The reduced rate of contributions applies for up to 24 consecutive calendar months.
Example: a first employee hired before 1 May 2024 and a second employee hired after 1 May 2024
Karl runs a limited company that meets the basic requirements to qualify for Growth Support. Karl is employed by the company and pays himself a monthly salary. The company has had one other employee, Hannes, since 1 February 2024. Hannes works full time and receives a monthly salary of SEK 30,000.
The company pays employer contributions at 10.21% on the first SEK 25,000 of Hannes' compensation, and at 31.42% on the remaining SEK 5,000. The reduced rate of contributions applies for up to 24 consecutive calendar months
On 1 August 2024, the company hires another employee, Cecilia. She is employed on a permanent, full-time basis and receives a monthly salary of SEK 35,000.
The company is not eligible for Growth Support for the compensation paid to Cecilia between 1 August and 31 December 2024.
However, it can receive Growth Support for compensation it pays her from 1 January 2025 onwards. Karl's company pays reduced employer contributions (10.21%) on her total monthly salary of SEK 35,000, for up to 24 consecutive calendar months.
Example: hiring more than two people at the same time
Naima has run a limited company without any employees since 1 January 2024. On 1 November 2024, the company hires three people on a permanent, full-time basis. All three employees receive their first compensation payment on 23 December 2024. Naima must determine which of them is the first employee, and which is the second.
For the first employee, Naima’s company pays employer contributions at 10.21% on compensation for December 2024, up to SEK 25,000. From 1 January 2025, the reduced rate of employer contributions (10.21%) applies to compensation up to SEK 35,000 per month. Naima’s limited company is entitled to Growth Support for up to 24 consecutive calendar months for its first employee from December 2024.
For the second employee, the company is not entitled to Growth Support on compensation paid in December 2024. From 1 January 2025, the reduced rate of employer contributions (10.21%) applies to compensation up to SEK 35,000 per month. Naima's company is entitled to Growth Support for up to 24 consecutive calendar months for its second employee from January 2025.
Employers with multiple business operations
An employer with several business operations is only entitled to Growth Support for one of them. If you have received Growth Support for one of your business operations, none of your other business operations are entitled to this subsidy.
The businesses in an associate enterprise are regarded as a single employer
Businesses that are under common management are associate enterprises. In order for an individual (or group of individuals) to be regarded as a business’s management, the individual(s) in question must exercise control over the business. Ownership of shares in a limited company implies control through the capacity to appoint a board of directors, a CEO, and so on. To exercise control over a limited company, shareholders must have more than 50% of the voting rights in the company. Alternatively, control over the company must have been granted in some other way – for example, through a contract or similar.
According to the Growth Support regulations, a sole trader business and a limited company owned by the sole trader are also considered to be two separate businesses under common management.
The businesses in an associate enterprise are regarded as a single employer. In order to be eligible for Growth Support, all businesses in an associate enterprise must meet the eligibility requirements. This means that it is not possible to set up several limited companies and either move an employee between them or hire a new employee for each company. In the case of an associate enterprise, only the business that first hires an employee is eligible for Growth Support.
Example: Growth Support – associate enterprise
Example 1
Erik and his son Daniel each own 50% of company A and company B. These companies are under common management since the same people have an equal share of ownership in both company A and B. The same group of individuals has common control over both companies, and these companies are part of an associate enterprise.
If Erik owns 100% of company A and Daniel owns 100% of company B, companies A and B are owned and controlled by different people. These companies are not under common management, and are not therefore part of an associate enterprise – even if Erik and Daniel are both directors of both companies, and despite the fact that they are related.
Example 2
Ali owns 100% of company A, and Bella owns 100% of company B. Ali and Bella both own company X, their share ownership being 55% and 45% respectively.
Company A and company X are part of an associate enterprise. Ali owns all the shares in company A and more than half of the shares in company X. These companies are under common management since Ali has control over both of them.
Companies B and X are not part of an associate enterprise. Bella owns all of the shares in company B, but only 45% of the shares in company X. There is neither a management agreement, nor any other relevant circumstance, granting Bella control over company X. Bella has control over company B, but not over company X.
Example 3
Ami has an active sole trader business and owns a limited company. These businesses are part of an associate enterprise and are therefore regarded as one employer. This means both businesses must meet the Growth Support eligibility requirements.
If both businesses meet these requirements, and one employee was hired by the sole trader business on 1 November 2024, Ami is entitled to Growth Support for the compensation paid by the sole trader business between 1 November and 31 December 2024. Ami pays the reduced rate of employer contributions (10.21%) on up to SEK 25,000 per month.
From 1 January 2025, she is entitled to Growth Support according to the new rules, and pays employer contributions at 10.21% on up to SEK 35,000 per month.
Growth Support is granted for up to 24 consecutive calendar months.
When a second employee is hired on 1 February 2025, the sole trader business is also entitled to Growth Support for that employee on compensation up to SEK 35,000 per month for up to 24 consecutive calendar months.
However, if the second employee is hired by the limited company, the company is not entitled to Growth Support, since Growth Support can only be granted to one business in an associate enterprise.
Employee restrictions
A person who you employ must not have been employed by another business that is, or has been, run directly or indirectly by you or any of your close relatives during the current calendar year or any of the previous three calendar years.
Furthermore, a limited company or partnership is not eligible for Growth Support for an employee who has been a part-owner of the company or partnership during the current calendar year or one of the three previous calendar years, or is related to such a person.
The employment contract must cover a period of employment of at least three consecutive months and a minimum of 20 working hours per week.
Example: Growth Support – employment requirements
Example: employment requirement of 20 working hours per week not fulfilled
An employee initially meets the requirements and the employer is granted Growth Support for five months. However, the minimum employment requirement of 20 working hours per week is not fulfilled during months six to eight. The employer is not granted Growth Support for months six to eight. However, the employer may be entitled to Growth Support during months 9 to 24, provided that the requirements are fulfilled. The Swedish Tax Agency cannot grant an extension of the subsidy period of up to 24 months.
Example: employment gap due to sickness
A company employs Eva (for a minimum of 20 hours per week for at least three months). She receives a salary in January and February, but is then sick for three weeks in March. Eva receives sickness benefit from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (“Försäkringskassan”) while on sick leave, and this counts as a work period. The Growth Support requirements have therefore been fulfilled when the company pays Eva’s salary for March.
Example: employment gap due to unpaid leave
A company employs Jens (for a minimum of 20 hours per week for at least three months) in August 2024. After seven months of work, Jens applies to take unpaid leave (not paid annual leave, sick leave or parental leave) in February, March and May 2025. Since Jens will not work at least 20 hours per week in February, March and May, his employer is not entitled to Growth Support during these months. However, the company remains entitled to Growth Support for April, June and the following 13 months. The subsidy period of up to 24 months cannot be extended.
Rules on Growth Support for the first employee hired before 1 May 2024
If you are a sole trader and hired your first employee before 1 May 2024, you are not entitled to Growth Support for that individual under the new rules. However, you can continue to receive Growth Support on compensation of up to SEK 25,000 per calendar month during the first 24 months of employment. To claim this subsidy, enter an X in box 062 of your PAYE return. You pay the full rate of employer contributions (31.42%) on compensation above SEK 25,000.
What is a sole proprietorship?
- a sole trader who has carried out business activities without any employees since 1 January 2017
- a limited company that has carried out business activities since 1 January 2017 with a maximum of one employee, who is also a part-owner of the company or a family member of a part-owner.
- a partnership with a maximum of two partners which has carried out business activities without any employees since 1 January 2017
A limited company can be considered a sole proprietorship even if salary has been paid out to a part-owner or a family member of a part-owner. However, Growth Support is not valid for the salary of a part-owner or one of their family members.
When determining whether your business is a sole proprietorship, you can disregard cases in which a maximum of SEK 5,000 in contributions-liable compensation has been paid to the same individual.
Example: Growth Support – first employee hired before 1 May 2024
Example
Moa owns a limited company and pays herself a salary every month. The company has had one further employee, Pontus, since 1 February 2024. The company has had no other employees since 1 January 2017, and meets the criteria to qualify as a sole proprietorship. Pontus works full time and receives a monthly salary of SEK 37,000. The company can continue to receive Growth Support for the compensation paid to Pontus, and pay employer contributions at 10.21% on up to SEK 25,000 by entering an X in box 062 in its PAYE return. The company pays the full rate of employer contributions (31.42%) on the remaining SEK 12,000. Moa’s company is entitled to Growth Support for up to 24 consecutive calendar months.
Further information about Growth Support
Growth Support combined with other subsidies
Growth Support is a government subsidy that must fulfil the requirements of the European Commission’s “de minimis” rule on public aid of minor significance. You are only entitled to Growth Support if you have received no more than a total of EUR 200,000 of government funding over the past three years. (Please note that lower subsidy limits apply to some industry sectors.)
“De minimis” aid (legal guidance in Swedish)
External link.
Employer contributions cannot be reduced to a level lower than the pension contributions rate of 10.21%. This means you are not entitled to Growth Support on the various forms of compensation paid to employees who are 66 years old or more at the beginning of the year.
Employed before 1 May 2024
Growth Support is valid for compensation up to SEK 25,000 per person per calendar month. You are entitled to a reduced rate of employer contributions for research and development provided that you fulfil the relevant requirements.
If you are granted Growth Support, the same compensation cannot be included in the basis for reduced contributions according to the regulations on regional support. You are entitled to regional support on compensation above SEK 25,000 per person per calendar month, provided that you fulfil all other requirements.
Growth Support and other subsidies (Legal guidance, in Swedish) External link.
Employed after 30 April 2024
Growth Support applies to compensation of up to SEK 35,000 per person per calendar month paid on or after 1 January 2025. You are entitled to a a reduced rate of employer contributions for research and development on compensation exceeding SEK 35,000 per month, provided that you fulfil all other requirements.
If you are granted Growth Support, the same compensation cannot be included in the basis for reduced contributions according to the regulations on regional support. You are entitled to regional support on compensation above SEK 35,000 per person per calendar month, provided that you fulfil all other requirements.
Growth Support and other subsidies (Legal guidance, in Swedish) External link.
Filing your PAYE return
Enter an X in box 062 – Growth Support for an employee hired before 1 May 2024, in your PAYE individual statement for your first employee.
Enter an X in box 063 – Growth Support for an employee hired before 30 April 2024, in your PAYE individual statement for your second employee. If you qualify for support for two employees under the extended Growth Support rules, place an X in box 063 in your PAYE individual statement for each employee.
How to fill in your PAYE return using the e-service – box by box
Report the “de minimis” aid you have received during the past three months in box 462. If you have not received any “de minimis” aid during the period in question, enter 0 in the box.
How to correct a PAYE individual statement having received Growth Support
Log into our Swedish e-service “Lämna arbetsgivardeklaration” (“File your PAYE return”).
When you have logged into our e-service, please complete the following steps:
- Click on “Inlämnade arbetsgivadeklarationer” (“Filed PAYE returns”).
- Choose the accounting period you wish to correct.
- Click on “Rätta uppgifter” (“Correct information”)
- Select the payee whose details you wish to correct.
- Note boxes 062 and 063 at the bottom, which relate to Growth Support. Uncheck the box if your company is not entitled to Growth Support.
- Click on “Spara” (“Save”) and repeat this process from step 4 if you need to make corrections for additional employees.
- Click on “Nästa” (“Next”) until you get to “Granska, signera och skicka in” (“Check, sign and submit”).
- Sign your PAYE return. Done!
The Swedish Tax Agency will send you a receipt when we receive your corrections. When we have processed the information you have provided, we will notify you of the revised amounts.
Kontakta oss
Aktuellt
-
Staten förlorar stort på kapitalförsäkringar
Kapitalförsäkringar är ett riskområde när det gäller undanhållen skatt, skattebo...
-
Rotavdraget höjs till 50 procent
Skatteavdraget för rot-tjänster höjs till 50 procent, från 30 procent, den 12 ma...
-
Inkomst från försäljning av sexuella tjänster
Skatteverket har fått frågor om hur det kommer sig att personer som har inkomste...
Tillsammans gör vi samhället möjligt