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WORKING IN SWEDEN

CHECKLIST: Here’s what you need to do if you move away from Sweden

What authorities do you need to inform before you leave, are you liable to Swedish tax and how can you access your Swedish pension? Here's a checklist.

CHECKLIST: Here's what you need to do if you move away from Sweden
Photo: Henrik Montgomery/TT

Tell the relevant authorities if you’re leaving for more than a year

If you’re planning on leaving Sweden for more than a year, you will have to let the authorities know. The main authorities in question are Skatteverket (the Tax Agency) and Försäkringskassan (the Social Insurance Agency).

Försäkringskassan

You have to tell Försäkringskassan when you leave so they can assess whether or not you still qualify for Swedish social insurance. As a general rule, you aren’t eligible for Swedish social insurance if you move away from Sweden, but there are exceptions, such as maternity or paternity benefits if you’re moving to another EU country.

This also applies to any family members who move with you – any over-18’s should send in their own documentation to Försäkingskassan about their move abroad. If you’re moving abroad with anyone under 18, you can include them in your own report to Försäkringskassan.

If both legal guardians are moving abroad together, both need to include any children in their application. If one legal guardian is moving abroad and the other is staying in Sweden, you need the guardian staying in Sweden to co-sign your application. If you are the sole legal guardian of any under-18’s travelling with you, you don’t need any documentation from the other parent.

You can register a move abroad with Försäkringskassan on the Mina sidor service on their website, here (log in with BankID).

Skatteverket

If you are moving abroad for a year or longer, you also need to tell the Tax Agency. This also applies if you were planning on moving abroad for less than a year but ended up staying for longer.

If you move to another Nordic country, you will also need to register your move with that country’s authorities if you will be there for six months or more. You’ll be deregistered from the Swedish population register the same day you become registered in another Nordic country’s register.

This doesn’t mean that you’ll lose your personnummer – you’ll still be able to use it if you ever move back to Sweden – but you will no longer be registered as resident in Sweden.

Similarly to Försäkringskassan, you will also need to report any children you are bringing with you, and both legal guardians must sign the form, whether or not both guardians are moving abroad or not.

In some cases, you may still be liable to pay tax in Sweden even if you live abroad – particularly if you are a Swedish citizen or have lived in Sweden for at least ten years. This could be due to owning or renting out property in Sweden, having family in Sweden, or owning a business in Sweden.

You can tell the tax agency of your plans to move abroad here.

Contact your a-kassa, if relevant

If you are member of a Swedish a-kassa (unemployment insurance), make sure you tell them that you’re leaving the country. As a general rule, you have unemployment insurance in the country you work in, so you will most likely have to cancel your a-kassa subscription.

If you are moving to another country with the a-kassa system, such as Denmark or Finland, it may pay to wait until you have joined a new a-kassa in that country before you cancel your membership in Sweden.

This is due to the fact, in some countries, you only qualify for benefits once you fulfil a membership and employment requirement. In Sweden and Denmark, you must have been a member for 12 months before you qualify. In Finland, the membership requirement is 26 weeks.

If you qualify for a-kassa in Sweden before you leave the country, you may be able to transfer your a-kassa membership period over to your new a-kassa abroad and qualify there straight away, but this usually only applies if your period of a-kassa membership is unbroken.

Check what applies in your new country before you cancel your membership in Sweden – your a-kassa should be able to help you with this.

Contact your union, if relevant

Similarly, if you are a member of a Swedish union or fackförbund, let them know you’re moving abroad.

If you’re moving to another Nordic country, they might be able to point you in the direction of the relevant union in that country, if you want to remain a member of a union in your new country.

If you’re moving to another EU country, you may be able to remain a member of your Swedish union as a foreign worker with the status utlandsvistelse.

If you chose to do this, you will usually pay a lower monthly fee than you do in Sweden, and they can still provide assistance with work related issues – although it may make more sense to join a local union in your field with more knowledge of the labout market.

If you don’t want to be a member of a union in your new country and don’t want to be a member of a Swedish union, you should contact your  union and ask them to cancel your membership.

Collect relevant documents regarding your Swedish pension

If you have worked in Sweden and paid tax for any length of time, you will have paid in to a Swedish pension. You retain this pension wherever you move, but you must apply for it yourself.

To do so, you will need to give details of when you lived and worked in Sweden, as well as providing copies of work contracts, if you have them. If you have these documents before you leave Sweden, make copies so that you can provide them when asked.

If you move to the EU/EES or Switzerland, you may also have the right to other, non-work based pensions, such as guarantee pension for low- or no-income earners, or the income pension complement (inkomstpensionstillägg).

Currently, you can receive your Swedish pension once you turn 63 for people born before 1963, or 64 for everyone else. This is likely to change in the future for people born later.

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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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