Tax and Compliance in Sweden – Has recent rule change impacted your business?
For many years, agencies placing contractors in Sweden had followed the “183-day rule,” which dictates that if an employee is working in Sweden for less than 183 days a year, then they are not tax liable there.
This rule changed on 1 January 2021, with new rules and definitions applying to the regulations around ‘Economic Employer’ in Sweden. Although this regulation has now been in effect for over three years, many are still unaware of its implications for taxation while on assignments in Sweden.
Under the previous Swedish tax legislation, a formal employer concept was used. This basically meant that the assessment of who is the employer is based on who paid the employee’s salary. With the introduction of the Swedish economic employer concept, several other factors come into play, such as who the work is carried out for, who is responsible for the risk and results of the employee’s work, who bears the cost, and who gives instructions to the employee. For a detailed understanding of an economic employer, we recommend reviewing Section 8.14 of Article 15 of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s guidance.
Implication for Contractors working in Sweden
There is still a threshold of days that a contractor can work in Sweden without being liable for income tax in Sweden. However, instead of the previous 183-day rule, the new threshold is now just 15 consecutive workdays and 45 days over a full calendar year for non-tax residents. As you have likely concluded, this represents a significant change from the previous rule.
Impact on Agencies Employing Contractors via a Local Entity Outside of Sweden
If the economic employer is deemed to be in Sweden, then the formal employer is obliged to, among others (i) register for employer reporting purposes in Sweden (ii) file monthly payroll information to the right authorities (iii) pay and report withholding tax for employees working in Sweden, and (iv) Pay and report social security contributions (subject to variations such as A1-certificates) and (v) file specific information with the Tax Agency.
How Cool Company Can Help
At Cool Company, we understand that adhering to these requirements adds a significant amount of administration, which may impact the profitability of your projects in Sweden. Cool Company AB has been providing a full in-house Swedish Employer of Record model for 15 years and handled all tax reporting obligations in Sweden on behalf of over 15,000 contractors over the past three years alone.
Please reach out if:
- You need support with payroll and compliance for an upcoming project in Sweden.
- You are frustrated by the lead time on your emails and queries to your current Employer of Record partner.
- You want to minimize the risk of your local contractors incurring unexpected tax liabilities while on projects.
- You are personally considering undertaking assignments in Sweden and would like to discuss the implications of different tax regimes, such as SINK Tax and the progressive A Tax, and their interaction with tax obligations in your country of residence.