Sweden

Sweden – a pocket guide 115
you must submit a more detailed special tax return, särskild
självdeklaration, that you fill in yourself. If you are selfemployed,
you must also declare your VAT, moms, a tax that
is levied on goods and services. If you are considering starting
your own company, you can learn everything you need
to know about VAT and corporate tax returns at one of the
Employment Office’s starting-up courses. For more information,
see the chapter on Work.
In calculating your preliminary tax, the tax authorities assume
that you earn the same amount every month and that
you do not have any deductions, avdrag*, to make on your
tax return. If you do not work all year or have large deductions
for interest paid on loans or the like, it may be a
good idea to request a tax adjustment, jämkning*. To do so,
you provide an account of your current finances so that the
tax authorities can calculate your preliminary tax more
accurately. This will ensure you of more money after tax
each month of the year instead of having to wait for the
excess tax to be refunded later on.
If you are not satisfied with a decision of the tax authorities,
you can request reconsideration, omprövning. All such
requests must be made in writing.
In addition to income tax and VAT, there are taxes on
wealth, property, inheritances, gifts and capital gains.
Additional taxes are levied on goods such as alcohol,
tobacco and petrol.
avdrag: amounts
subtracted from
the income you
declare on your
tax return.
jämkning: revision
of the tax to
be deducted
from someone’s
wages.
Old-age pension
Sweden’s pension system is a security system intended to
ensure that those who have passed the age of retirement
have something to live on.
Under the pension system introduced in 1999, the size
of your pension is determined by how much you have
worked and how much you have earned during your years
Money