VAT Number Format In Sweden

All EU member states have a fixed format for their VAT numbers. In Sweden, it includes 12 numbers (of which the last two are most often 01) and the prefix SE (e.g., SE123456789001).

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VAT Rates In Sweden

The standard VAT rate in Sweden is 25%, with reduced rates of 12% and 6% on certain goods and services.

• 25% (Standard) – Applies to all taxable supplies, with certain exceptions
• 12% (Reduced) – Some foodstuffs, hotels, and artists’ sales of works of art
• 6% (Reduced) – Newspapers, magazines, books, passenger transport, concerts
• 0% (Zero) – intra-community and international transport

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VAT Payments And Returns In Sweden

All businesses with a Swedish VAT number must submit periodic VAT reports. When establishing a company in Sweden, companies must specify how often they want to report VAT.

VAT Returns Frequency In Sweden

For all companies that operate in Sweden, VAT reports must be submitted on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis, depending on the annual turnover of the company.

• Small companies with a turnover of less than SEK 1,000,000 (EUR 90,000) may choose to report VAT once a year, quarterly or monthly.
• Medium companies with a turnover of between SEK 1,000,000 (EUR 90,000) and SEK 40,000,000 (EUR 3,600,000) may choose to report VAT quarterly or monthly.
• Large companies with a turnover of more than SEK 40,000,000 (EUR 3,600,000) must report VAT once a month.

Penalties in case of late filings or misdeclarations

In the case of the late filing of VAT returns and payments, the Swedish government prescribed the penalties as follows:

• Late registration can trigger a penalty of SEK 6,250 with additional fees up to SEK 18,750 in case of non-submission of the VAT return within 5 months from the filing deadline.
• If the taxpayer has omitted information or provides false information on the return, the taxpayer can be penalized with a surcharge equal to 40% of the tax due.

VAT invoices issued in Sweden must contain the following elements:

• date of issuance
• a unique, sequential number of the invoice
• supplier data (company name, address, VAT number)
• customer data (address, VAT number if the buyer is liable for tax on the purchase)
• full description of goods and services provided (scope and nature)
• date of delivery (date of the deal completion)
• payment date (if the payment date is different from the invoice date)
• net price per unit (excl. VAT)
• any discounts if applicable
• rate and amount of VAT applicable for the category of goods and services provided
• amount of the VAT
• the invoice total (incl. VAT)

From 2019, all suppliers billing the Government (B2G) are obliged to submit their invoices electronically according to EN 16931, PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0.

For B2B and B2C transactions, issuance of invoices electronically is permitted, but still not mandatory.

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SIE standard for reporting

Most of the businesses in Sweden use the SIE standard for transferring accounting data to authorities.

Like SAF-T, the SIE format is an open standard for transferring accounting data between different software produced by different software suppliers. The format is open to everyone, but only SIE members can get their software approved.

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Date updated [May 12, 2021]

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