Swedish residents working abroad

If you are working abroad, in some cases, you could be exempt from paying tax in Sweden on the income that you earn abroad.

Regardless of how long you live abroad, you will never lose your Swedish citizenship or your personal identity number.

It is important that you contact the tax authorities in the country where you are going to work in order to comply with their taxation regulations.

If you are employed by an employer established in Sweden, normally your income will be pre-printed on your Swedish income tax return.

However, if you are employed by an employer who is not established in Sweden, your foreign income will normally not be pre-printed on your Swedish tax return. Consequently, you need to verify that your foreign income is included in your Swedish income tax return before filing, regardless of whether the income has been taxed abroad or not. You should also submit information in your tax return on the following:

• The country where you have been working.
• Your foreign employer’s name, address, and local registration number.
• The duration of your work abroad.
• Details of any tax you have paid abroad.

You may request to have foreign tax deducted/credited from your Swedish tax to avoid double taxation of your income. You may then have to submit documents to the Swedish Tax Agency showing that you have paid foreign tax in your working country.

Swedish residents working abroad for at least six months

If you are resident in Sweden and work abroad for at least six months, this employment income is exempt from Swedish income tax if:

• The income is taxed in the working country under its domestic tax laws and applicable tax treaties, and
• you do not spend more than six days per month, or a maximum of 72 days per 12-month period, in Sweden.

Remember that when counting up stay in Sweden, part of a day counts as a full day.

Your income from employment when working abroad will normally be taxed in Sweden if the conditions above are not fulfilled. This exemption rule does not apply if you work on a ship or a Swedish, Danish or Norwegian aircraft.

Remember to submit information about your circumstances, as per above, in your tax return.

If your employer is established in Sweden and this exemption rule is applicable, you may use the form Ansökan om ändrad beräkning Arbete utomlands, SKV 4303 (available in Swedish only) in order to change the preliminary tax that your employer must deduct from each of your salary payments.

Swedish residents working abroad for at least one year

If you are resident in Sweden and work abroad for at least one year in the same country, this employment income is exempt from Swedish income tax, even if the income has not been taxed in the working country under the following conditions:

• Your employer is not a Swedish state agency, municipality or similar public employer,
• your employment income has not been taxed in the working country due to the domestic laws of that country or any other agreement besides tax treaties, and
• you do not spend more than six days per month, or a maximum of 72 days per 12-month period, in Sweden.

Remember that when counting up stay in Sweden, part of a day counts as a full day.

This exemption rule does not apply if you work on a ship or on a Swedish, Danish or Norwegian aircraft.

Remember to submit information about your circumstances, as per above, in your tax return.

If you have an employer who is established in Sweden and this exemption rule is applicable you may use the form Ansökan om ändrad beräkning Arbete utomlands, SKV 4303 (in Swedish only) in order to in order to change the preliminary tax that your employer must deduct from each of your salary payments.