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Are you facing higher tax bills in Sweden in 2016?

From next year you could be paying more cash to your council – depending on where in Sweden you live – as local authorities including Stockholm plan to raise taxes levied on residents.

Published: 4 November 2015 11:01 CET
Are you facing higher tax bills in Sweden in 2016?
How much more could you be paying in taxes next year? Photo: Fredrik Sandberg/TT

15 of Sweden's 290 municipalities have said they are planning to increase taxes from next year, while three county councils are doing the same, a review by public broadcaster SVT showed on Wednesday.

In the Stockholm city area, where residents currently face a 30.53 percent tax rate in the county and municipality combined, the latter is planning a 0.22 kronor ($0.025) hike in taxes in 2016.

This means that for every 100 kronor residents earn, 0.22 kronor will go to the council, boosting its official finances by around 500 million kronor. Simply put, Stockholmers earning 30,000 kronor a month can expect to pay around 50 kronor more in taxes each month in 2016.

The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting, SKL) warned earlier this year that local authorities could be forced to raise taxes in the coming years, due to an ageing population and increasing intake of refugees.

However, most of Sweden's councils are leaving their tax rates unchanged next year, including in the country's second and third biggest cities, Gothenburg and Malmö.

And five municipalities are actually lowering taxes, including four in Stockholm county: Haninge (-0.10 kronor), Salem (-0.25 kronor), Värmdö (-0.05), and Österåker (-0.5 kronor). Östra Göinge in Skåne in southern Sweden is also lowering taxes by 0.12 kronor.

Örebro in central Sweden is planning its first tax hike in more than three decades – raising its residents' contribution to the council's coffers by 0.5 kronor. Officials there have been keen to stress that the increase is not related to the refugee crisis.

“Of course it's a challenge that both Örebro, the whole of Sweden and Europe are facing right now, but that's not what our tax rise is about. What we're undertaking is the biggest welfare investment since the 1960s,” council chairwoman Lena Baastad told SVT.

The ruling centre-left Social Democrat-Green government has already allocated an extra 10 billion grant to be shared between Sweden's municipalities to help them welcome and integrate the 140,000-190,000 asylum seekers expected to arrive in the Nordic nation this year. 

Where in Sweden are taxes going up next year?

Hallsberg: 0.5 (kronor)

Hörby: 0.6

Järfälla: 0.15

Lomma: 0.4

Malung-Sälen: 0.5

Motala: 0.5

Norrköping: 0.5

Oskarshamn: 0.75

Staffanstorp: 0.35

Stockholm: 0.22

Uppsala: 0.3

Vadstena: 1.25

Vindeln: 0.5

Värnamo: 0.4

Örebro: 0.5

Norrbotten county: 1.16

Uppsala county: 0.55

Västernorrland county: at least 0.5

A total of 78 councils did not respond to SVT's survey or said they had not yet made a decision on next year's tax levels.

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MONEY

How to avoid falling victim to tax scams in Sweden

Sweden's tax agency, Skatteverket, warns of an increase in scams when it's time for Swedish tax-payers to declare their taxes.

Published: 12 March 2024 13:40 CET
How to avoid falling victim to tax scams in Sweden

Anyone who earned more than 22,208 kronor last year received their tax returns digitally last week, marking the start of tax season.

That also means an expected peak in tax-related scams, Skatteverket warns.

Most of the scams are so-called phishing scams, meaning attempts to steal the victims’ personal information. Fraudsters may for example email a person, pretending to represent Skatteverket, and ask them for, among other things, their banking details.

“We’re seeing these in all channels. They use fake emails, SMS, letters and in some cases even phone calls. It is particularly common in tax declaration times – just when we’re about to send out the tax returns, the e-service opens and it’s possible to declare – but above all when it’s time for tax rebates,” Jan Janowski, a Skatteverket expert, told Swedish news agency TT.

A scam email might for example state that you’re entitled to a tax rebate and that you should click a link to receive it. Don’t click any links, open any attachments or reply to the message. Skatteverket advises that you immediately delete the email or text message.

Another common scam is that you receive a text message claiming to be from Skatteverket, telling you that you owe them money and you need to log in to calculate the amount. The website you’re urged to log in via does not belong to Skatteverket. Don’t click the link.

The agency stresses that it never asks people for their banking details. The exception is that you may be asked for your bank account information if you log into Skatteverket’s website to declare your taxes, but that always first requires you to log into the site.

To receive your tax rebate, you need to inform Skatteverket of your bank account number. You do this not by clicking a link in an email or SMS, but by logging into their website using a digital ID, for example BankID, and submitting your details. Only do this on your own initiative. If someone calls you and asks you to log in with your BankID during the phone call, don’t do it. That’s another common scam.

Skatteverket will also never call you to ask for your bank account or credit card number.

It will be possible to declare your taxes from March 19th. You’ll receive any tax rebate you’re owed by mid-April or early June, depending on when you submit your tax return. These are the dates when fraudsters are likely to attempt the most scams.

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