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TAXES

How to pay your Swedish tax bill before the deadline

Thousands of Swedish taxpayers risk getting contacted by debt collectors if they fail to pay their tax arrears on time.

How to pay your Swedish tax bill before the deadline
Don't miss the Swedish tax vocabulary in this article. Photo: Anders Wiklund/TT

A total of 1.8 million Swedish taxpayers have been told to pay tax arrears, and Sweden's national debt collecting agency (known as the Enforcement Authority in English or Kronofogden in Swedish) on Thursday urged anyone with outstanding payments not to miss the deadline.

“Everyone has a lot going on and it can be easy to miss your arrears. We therefore want to remind all taxpayers to have another look in their digital mailbox and not wait until the last moment to pay,” said Johan Kranz, analyst at the Enforcement Authority, in a statement.

According to the Swedish Tax Agency, the vast majority of people pay their tax arrears on time, but in January this year it handed 34,000 cases from 2017 over to the Enforcement Authority. Of those, 9,500 people had no previous debts, and two-thirds of them then paid their tax debt within 30 days.

This indicates, according to the Tax Agency, that many of them could have avoided ending up in a situation where they had to pay the extra fee for when the case goes to the Enforcement Authority.

If the Enforcement Authority has to be called in to recover the debt, it adds another 600 kronor ($62) on to the tax bill. If a person fails to pay, they risk getting a worse credit score, which could make it harder to for example get a mortgage, rent an apartment or sign up to a phone deal.

So how do you know if you have to pay tax arrears?

You should have been sent a final tax statement in August, which tells you if you are owed money back (skatteåterbäring) or if you did not pay enough last year and have to pay tax arrears (kvarskatt).

If your arrears are less than 100 kronor you can postpone the payment until they reach that sum.

The deadline for most people is November 12th. It is also worth noting that the interest on any deficit in your tax account is high: 16.25 percent, which could send costs soaring even more for late payments.

The payment procedure is slightly different depending on whether you pay the bill from a foreign bank account or a Swedish bank account, and more information is available in English on the Tax Agency website.

Vocabulary

fee – (en) avgift

tax – (en) skatt (bonus trivia: this is also the Swedish word for 'treasure')

taxpayer – (en) skattebetalare

debt – (en) skuld

payment – (en) betalning

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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.

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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