Register your business for VAT

VAT-liable and VAT-exempt business activities

Most business activities are VAT-liable, but certain types are VAT-exempt – for example, healthcare, social care, banking and insurance. If you carry out VAT-liable business activities, you might need to register your business for VAT.

VAT rates and VAT exemption

This is when you need to register your business for VAT

You must register your business for VAT if both of the following circumstances apply to you:

• You carry out – or intend to carry out – economic activities involving the sale of VAT-liable goods or services.
• Your business’s annual turnover for the calendar year in question exceeds SEK 120,000.

A business that has a maximum annual turnover of SEK 120,000 can generally be exempt from VAT liability.

In certain cases, you do not need to register your business for VAT (in Swedish)

A business that has a VAT exemption due to low annual turnover might still need to be registered for VAT if it purchases construction services with reverse-charge liability.

If you trade with other countries, you need to register your business for VAT if you:

• sell services to other EU countries and are required to submit an EC sales list (recapitulative statement)
• have purchased goods (other than new means of transport or goods subject to excise duty) from other EU countries for more than SEK 90,000 in one year

You also need to register your business for VAT if you have purchased services from a taxable person (such as a business) in another country. This rule applies provided that you have VAT liability and the service(s) in question are subject to VAT in Sweden. However, this rule does not apply if the seller in another country has been granted VAT exemption under the VAT exemption scheme for SMEs with low annual turnover.

Who must be registered? (Legal guidance, in Swedish) External link.

You must be able to provide proof that you intend to carry out VAT-liable business activities

In order to register your business for VAT, you must be able to provide proof that you intend to carry out economic activities. You must provide objective evidence, which you might need to support by means of contracts, invoices or floorplans of your business premises.

Here are some examples of objective evidence:

• You sell goods or services on an ongoing basis.
• You have purchased assets that you can only use for economic activities.
• You actively promote your business in an appropriate manner.
• Your business premises are specially adapted to economic activities.

Here’s what constitutes an economic activity (Legal guidance, in Swedish) External link.

You can choose to register your business for VAT even if its annual turnover is SEK 120,000 or less.

If your business’s annual turnover is SEK 120,000 or less, you can still choose to register it for VAT voluntarily. You will then need to apply to the Swedish Tax Agency. We will send you a decision notice if you meet our VAT registration requirements. Your VAT liability and deduction entitlement might apply retroactively, but the start date cannot be before 1 January the year before you submit your application.