Excise duty on electricity
You usually have to declare energy excise duty on electricity if you are an electricity distribution network operator, or if you produce electricity. The same applies if you are voluntarily liable for excise duty.
Information
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If you declare energy excise duty on electricity, you usually buy in excise-duty-free electricity. You declare and pay excise duty on the electricity that you have consumed, or supplied to someone who does not declare excise duty on electricity. However, you do not have to declare electricity that you have supplied to anyone who declares excise duty on electricity.
In certain cases, it is possible to reduce your tax payments, or to pay no duty, by making a deduction for excise duty on electricity in your excise duty return. In other cases, you may have to apply for a refund instead. You may be able to apply for a refund even if you do not file an excise duty return. Information is available in the “Excise duties on energy” (“Energiskatter”) section about when you have the right to make a deduction or apply for a refund.
Excise duty rate for electricity
The rate of excise duty on electricity use is SEK 0.428 per kilowatt hour of electricity. In certain parts of northern Sweden, households and companies within the services sector can be granted a tax exemption of SEK 0.096 per kilowatt hour of electricity used.
Here you can find out about the deductions that apply in Norrland (“norrlandsavdrag”).
Excise duty rates applied in previous years
You will find the excise duty rates applied to electricity in previous years in this document:
Find out more about when you have to file your excise duty returns and pay excise duty on electricity here:
Deductions that apply in Norrland (“norrlandsavdrag")
In certain parts of northern Sweden, households and companies within the services sector can be granted a tax exemption of SEK 0.096 per kilowatt hour of electricity used (see list below: “The municipalities in question”). If you supply electricity to households and companies within the services sector, you enter a deduction for excise duty on electricity in your excise duty return.
The municipalities in question:
- Norrbotten county: all municipalities
- Västerbotten county: all municipalities
- Jämtland county: all municipalities
- Västernorrland county: Sollefteå, Ånge and Örnsköldsvik municipality
- Gävleborg county: Ljusdal
- Dalarna county: Malung-Sälen, Mora, Orsa and Älvdalen municipality
- Värmland county: Torsby
In order to be granted a tax exemption of SEK 0.096 per kilowatt hour of electricity used, electricity may not be consumed for the following purposes:
- industrial activities: These include both the manufacturing process and other industrial activities such as those carried out at company headquarters and in finished goods warehouses.
- professional agricultural activities or forestry operations
- professional aquaculture activities
- shore-side electricity for waterborne transport
- train or other means of rail transport
If electricity has been consumed by a company, a tax exemption is regarded as a form of government support. In order to quality for government support, a company must fulfil the necessary EU requirements. It may not, for example, be in any financial difficulty. You may need to provide some statistical data if you claim deductions that apply in Norrland (“norrlandsavdrag”) for a company. You can find out about this here:
Those who claim deductions for companies in Norrland (“norrlandsavdrag”) may need to provide certain statistics
You have to provide certain statistics if you have claimed deductions for a business client, and the total deductions for a calendar year amount to more than EUR 50,000. The same applies if you have claimed deductions for your own electricity consumption. The details you have to provide are as follows:
- the personal identity number or company registration number of the party that has consumed the electricity
- the deduction claimed (in SEK)
- the type of company (small, medium or large)
- the business area (the Swedish Standard Industrial Classification (SNI) code for the business in which the greatest proportion of the electricity to which the tax deduction applies has been consumed by you or your client)
- region (the region in which the majority of the electricity on which the deduction has been claimed has been consumed by you or your client).
More information on obtaining statistics is available in Swedish in the “Legal guidance” (“Rättslig vägledning”) section.
Example:
A service company in Västerbotten County declares its own excise duty on energy, and claims excise duty deductions for own electricity consumption. Because the excise duty deduction for electricity consumption during the calendar year exceeds EUR 50,000, the company must provide statistical information to the Swedish Tax Agency. For 2024, EUR 50,000 is equivalent to SEK 579,165. The company provides the statistical information in an annexe submitted with its return for excise duty on energy. The table below provides a breakdown of the company’s energy consumption and deductions for the first five months of the year.
Period | Consumption (kWh) | Deductions for the period (SEK) | Accumulated deductions (SEK) | Amounts stated in annexe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
January | 1,250,000 | 120,000 | 120,000 | Not stated |
February | 2,200,000 | 211,200 | 331,200 | Not stated |
March | 3,100,000 | 297,600 | 628,800 | 49,635 |
April | 1,700,000 | 163,200 | 792,000 | 163,200 |
May | 800,000 | 76,800 | 868,000 | 76,800 |
You do not need to provide statistics for January or February since the total deductions claimed amount to less than SEK 579,165.
You do have to provide details of deductions in the annexe for March since by then, the total deductions to date amount to SEK 628,800: in other words, more than SEK 597,165. The amount you enter in the annexe is SEK 49,635 since you only have to provide details of deductions over and above SEK 597,165.
For both April and May, you write the total deductions claimed in the annexe, since the total deductions claimed for earlier periods already exceeded SEK 579,165. For all periods for which you have to write a sum of money in the annexe, you must also provide details of the company that has consumed the electricity.
Have you had solar photovoltaic panels installed?
If you have had solar photovoltaic panels with a maximum capacity of less than 500kW installed at your private residential property, or at your business premises, you can find out about the regulations that apply here:
- Microgeneration of renewable electricity – private residential property (in Swedish)
- Microgeneration of renewable electricity – business property (in Swedish)
If the solar power system has a peak capacity of 500kW or more, you can find out about the regulations that apply in the “Electricity producer” section. The same applies if you have several small-scale solar power systems that have a total peak capacity of 500kW or more.
Who must register to declare and pay excise duty on electricity?
In the drop-down menu below, you can find out who needs to apply to declare and pay excise duty on electricity.
Click on the link below if you would like to find out more about the regulations that apply. Here you will find information in Swedish outlining the rules on bringing electricity to Sweden via an electricity network that can be established without a permit from the Swedish Energy Markets Inspectorate (Energimarknadsinspektionen).
Electricity distribution network operators
You are an electricity distribution network operator if you distribute electricity under a permit in accordance with the Swedish Electricity Act. If you are an electricity distribution network operator, you must register for energy excise duty on electricity, and file an excise duty return for excise duty on electricity every month. If you expect to pay a maximum of SEK 50,000 in energy excise tax during a whole tax year, the Swedish Tax Agency may decide that you can file an excise duty return once a year.
As an electricity distribution network operator, you usually buy in excise-duty-free electricity, and declare and pay excise duty on the electricity that you have used, or supplied to anyone who is not obliged to declare excise duty on electricity.
Depending on whether or not certain conditions are fulfilled, you can deduct SEK 0.096 per kilowatt hour of electricity used by you, or transmitted within certain parts of northern Sweden.
In order to claim deductions on electricity that a company has used, the company must fulfil the requirements for government support. It may not, for example, be in any financial difficulty.
You register as a tax payer liable for excise duty on electricity by filling in application form SKV 5342 (“Anmälan, Skatt på energi, Registrering som skattskyldig på el”). Send the form to the Swedish Tax Agency at the following address: Skatteverket, 771 83 Ludvika.
Do you wish to deregister for excise duty on electricity?
Free power: electricity transmitted without payment
If you have transmitted less than 50kW of electricity without payment to a user who is not affiliated with you, you do not have to declare that electricity.
Network losses
You must declare your network losses in your excise duty return by filling in the number of kilowatt hours (kWh) in the “Egenförbrukning” (“Own use”) section, and then working out the excise duty on energy. You can deduct excise duty on energy for your network losses.
Legal guidance
You will find in-depth information in Swedish on electricity distribution network operators under “Legal guidance” (Rättslig vägledning”).
Electricity producers
If you produce excise-duty-liable electricity for use in Sweden, you must register for excise duty on electricity as an electricity producer. Having registered for excise duty on electricity, you file an excise duty return every month. If you expect to pay an estimated maximum of SEK 50,000 in excise duty on energy use during a whole tax year, the Swedish Tax Agency may decide that you can submit an excise duty return once a year. Sometimes electricity is not liable to taxation (see “Liability to pay tax: exemptions”, “Undantag från skatteplikt”).
As an electricity producer, you usually buy in excise-duty-free electricity, and declare and pay excise duty on the electricity when you use it, or supply it to anyone who does not have to declare excise duty on electricity. You do not have to declare and pay excise duty on electricity that you use to produce electricity, or that you have supplied to someone who declares excise duty on electricity. Depending on whether or not certain conditions are met, you can deduct SEK 0.096 per kilowatt hour of electricity used by you, or distributed within certain parts of northern Sweden.
You register as an electricity producer liable for excise duty on electricity by filling in application form SKV 5342 (“Anmälan, Skatt på energi, Registrering som skattskyldig på el”). Please send the form to the Swedish Tax Agency at the following address: Skatteverket, 771 83 Ludvika.
Do you wish to deregister for excise duty on electricity?
Liability to pay excise duty: exemptions
In some cases, electricity is excise duty exempt. This is determined by a number of factors, including: how and where electricity is produced; the purpose of electricity consumption; and a power plant’s installed capacity. Find out more about exemptions here:
Electricity is not liable to excise duty if these three conditions are fulfilled:
- You have produced the electricity in a power plant with a total generator installed capacity of less than 100kW.
- You have access to a total generator installed capacity of less than 100kW.
- You have not transmitted the electricity to a network with a mandatory permit from the Swedish Energy Markets Inspectorate (Energimarknadsinspektionen).
If you produce electricity from a variety of energy sources, you must convert their respective installed capacity to the equivalent of 100kW of generator installed capacity, and then add up all the figures for installed capacity.
Production units are regarded as a single power plant if they are connected in both the geographical and technical sense – for example, if they share the same generator.
Depending on the energy source, 100kW is equivalent to:
- a generator installed capacity of 250kW when electricity is produced from wind or wave energy
- a maximum installed capacity of 500kW when electricity is produced from solar energy
- an installed capacity of 100kW when electricity is produced from another energy source without a generator
Even if you transmit electricity to a network that had to be established with a permit from the Swedish Energy Markets Inspectorate (Energimarknadsinspektionen), you do not need to register as an electricity producer if you:
- have only produced electricity in a power plant with a total generator installed capacity of less than 100kW
- have access to a total generator installed capacity of less than 100kW
Special excise duty regulations apply to renewable electricity producers who transmit the electricity to a network with a mandatory permit from the Swedish Energy Markets Inspectorate (Energimarknadsinspektionen). This could apply to those who produce electricity from solar photovoltaic panels installed on their property, for example.
- Microgeneration of renewable electricity – business property (in Swedish)
- Electricity produced from sustainable sources: Legal guidance (in Swedish)
External link.
Electricity is not liable to excise duty either if you have:
- produced electricity with a capacity off less than 50kW, and transmitted it without payment to a user who is not associated with you
- produced and used it on a ship or other means of transport
- used it for the production of electricity
- produced it using a back-up electricity generation unit – during a power cut, for example – and not transmitted it to a network with a mandatory permit from the Swedish Energy Markets Inspectorate (Energimarknadsinspektionen)
Deducting energy excise duty for electricity produced from renewable sources
You can claim a deduction for energy excise duty if you have produced excise-duty-liable electricity from renewable sources in a power plant with a total generator installed capacity of less than 100kW, and the electricity has not been transmitted to a network with a mandatory permit from the Swedish Energy Markets Inspectorate (“Energimarknadsinspektionen”). You then pay no excise duty.
Renewable energy sources used in the production of electricity are as follows:
- solar
- wind
- wave
- tidal
- thermal
- hydropower (energy generated in a hydropower plant using water)
- fuel cells
- biomass or products made from biomass
If you produce electricity using difference energy sources, you must convert their respective installed capacity to the equivalent of 100kW of generator installed capacity, and then add up all the figures for installed capacity.
Production units are regarded as a single power plant if they are connected in both the geographical and technical sense – for example, if they share the same generator.
Depending on the energy source, 100kW is equivalent to:
- a generator installed capacity of 250kW when electricity is produced from wind or wave energy
- a maximum installed capacity of 500kW when electricity is produced from solar energy
- an installed capacity of 100kW when electricity is produced from another energy source without a generator
In order for deductions to be claimed in an excise duty return, the company that consumes the electricity must fulfil the requirements for government support. One requirement that a company has to fulfil to qualify for government support is that it must not be in any financial difficulty.
If a deduction amounts to more than the equivalent of EUR 10,000 per calendar year, you must provide certain details to the Swedish Tax Agency. If you claim a deduction for energy excise duty on electricity that a client has consumed, you must provide the Swedish Tax Agency with the same details for the client. The details that you must provide are as follows:
- personal identity number or company registration number
- the deduction claimed (in SEK)
- the type of company (small, medium or large)
- the business area (the Swedish Standard Industrial Classification (SNI) code for the business in which the greatest proportion of the electricity to which the tax deduction applies has been consumed by you or your client)
- region (the region in which the majority of the electricity for which the deduction has been claimed has been consumed by you or your client).
- Find out how your business activities are classified (Statistics Sweden) External link.
- Gathering of data for publication and reporting (Legal guidance, in Swedish) External link.
- Government support: exemptions under Sweden’s Energy Taxation Act (Legal guidance, In Swedish) External link.
- Government support (Legal guidance, in Swedish) External link.
Example:
If you claim excise duty deductions for your own or another company’s electricity consumption of more than EUR 10,000 for a calendar year, you must provide information about electricity produced from renewable sources in the annexe to your return for excise duty on energy. In 2024, EUR 10,000 is equivalent to SEK 115,833.
Period | Consumption (kWh) | Deduction for the period (SEK) | Accumulated deductions (SEK) | Amount stated in annexe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
January | 100,000 | 42,800 | 42,800 | Not stated |
February | 151,000 | 64,628 | 107,428 | Not stated |
March | 200,000 | 85,600 | 193,028 | 77,195 |
April | 100,000 | 42,800 | 235,828 | 42,800 |
May | 150,000 | 64,200 | 300,028 | 64,200 |
You do not have to provide statistical information for January or February since the total deduction claimed is less than SEK 115,833. You must provide statistical information for March, since the total deduction exceeds SEK 115,833. In the annexe, you should enter a deduction amount of SEK 77,195 since you only have to submit information for the part of the deduction amount exceeding SEK 115,833.
For April and May, you should enter the full deduction amount for each period, since the accumulated deductions already exceeded SEK 115,833 in the previous period. When you report deductions in the annexe, you must also provide information about the company that has consumed the electricity.
Voluntarily liable for energy excise duty on electricity
If you are voluntarily liable for excise duty, you usually buy in excise-duty-free electricity. You declare energy excise duty on electricity every month. You declare your electricity consumption in your excise duty return, and deduct energy excise duty on electricity that you have consumed for any of the areas of use listed below.
You can apply to become voluntarily liable for excise duty if you expect to consume more than 10 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity during a calendar year. For your application to be successful, you must also be suitable for approval with respect to your economic circumstances, for example. An approval confirmation counts from the date stated in the decision notice. Approval is never granted retroactively. Your electricity consumption must be for one or more of the following the areas of use:
- industrial manufacturing processes (industry)
- train or other forms of rail transport
- metallurgical processes
- mineralogical processes
- production of energy products or other products for which a tax obligation for the manufacturer has arisen
- production of energy products – biogas
- use of electricity for chemical reduction, or in electrolytic processes
Government support
You must fulfil the requirements for government support to claim deductions on electricity you have consumed in carrying out an industrial manufacturing process. One of these requirements is that your company must not be in any financial difficulty. You have to provide the Swedish Tax Agency with statistics if the total deductions for a calendar year amount to more than EUR 50,000. To find out which details you have to provide, please click on “manufacturing processes undertaken during industrial activities” in the list above.
How do I apply to become voluntarily liable for excise duty?
You apply to become voluntarily liable for excise duty by filling in application form SKV 5367: “Ansökan frivilligt skattskyldig, Skatt på energi – el” (“Application: Voluntarily liable for excise duty, Excise duty on energy – electricity”). Send the form to: Skatteverket, 771 83 Ludvika.
If you are voluntarily liable for excise duty, you must provide notice of any changes that take place
If you are voluntarily liable for excise duty, you must notify the Swedish Tax Agency if:
- any significant changes in ownership take place
- there are any changes relating to your company’s signatories, auditor or board
- any other changes are made to information that is relevant to your authorisation to become voluntarily liable for excise duty
The Swedish Tax Agency can withdraw its approval
If you are voluntarily liable for excise duty, your approval can be withdrawn by the Swedish Tax Agency, either if:
- there are no longer grounds for approval
- you request for your approval to be withdrawn
You can have your approval withdrawn
If you are voluntarily liable for excise duty, you can request for your approval to be withdrawn by filling in form SKV 5335, “Deregister – excise duty” (“Avregistrering – punktskatt”) and sending it to the Swedish Tax Agency at the address written on it. Your request must be signed by an authorised signatory.
A withdrawal confirmation applies immediately if no other date is stated in the decision notice.
Legal guidance
In-depth information on being voluntarily liable for excise duty is available in Swedish under “Legal guidance” (“Rättslig vägledning”).
For which accounting period should I declare energy excise duty on electricity?
The accounting period for which you are required to account for your own electricity consumption, or for electricity that you have supplied, varies. Here are some examples:
- When you have consumed electricity yourself, you must account for your consumption in your excise duty return for the corresponding accounting period. In other words, you declare the electricity that you have consumed in January in your excise duty return for January.
- When you have supplied electricity to anyone who is not obliged to declare excise duty on energy, you must declare this in the excise duty return for the accounting period two months after the supply took place. For example, if you supply electricity in January, you must declare this in your excise duty return for March. The accounting period is stated in your excise duty return.
The two-month delay only applies if you file your excise duty returns on a monthly basis. If, on the other hand, you do your accounting on an annual basis, you have to declare your own electricity consumption as well as any supply of electricity that has taken place during the tax year in the excise duty return that you file for the whole year.
Information on government support
When the Swedish Tax Agency decides on deductions or refunds in relation to excise duty on electricity for certain areas of use, EU regulations on government support apply. In order to qualify for government support, the necessary requirements must be fulfilled. For example, the beneficiary must not be in any financial difficulty.
If you receive a given amount of government support during a particular calendar year, you must provide statistics to the Swedish Tax Agency. The details that you have to provide in such cases are as follows:
- the type of company (small, medium or large)
- region (the region in which the majority of the electricity on which the deduction has been claimed has been consumed)
- the business area (the Swedish Standard Industrial Classification (SNI) code for the business in which the greatest proportion of the electricity to which the tax deduction applies has been consumed by you or your client)
More information on obtaining statistics is available in Swedish under “Legal guidance: Obtaining statistics” (“Rättslig vägledning, Inhämtande av statistikuppgifter”).
According to EU regulations, as a government authority that provides support, the Swedish Tax Agency must publish details of beneficiaries when the support they receive reaches a certain level. Such details are published on the European Commission’s website.
Electricity fed back into the network after battery storage
You are entitled to a refund on any energy excise duty you have paid on electricity that you have stored in a battery, and then fed back into the same electricity network with a mandatory permit, from which it was originally drawn. You should not apply for a refund if you declare excise duty on electricity.
How do I apply for a refund?
If you plan to apply for a refund, you will find more information in Swedish under “Refunds of excise duty on electricity and fuel” (“Återbetalning av skatt på el och bränsle”).
Legal guidance
In-depth information on electricity fed back into electricity networks after battery storage is available in Swedish under “Legal guidance” (“Rättslig vägledning”).
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