Swedish Moms — VAT regimes

Sweden applies three VAT rates (Moms: Mervärdesskatt) — 25% standard, 12% reduced, 6% super-reduced — with an extended reverse charge regime for sectors at risk of carousel fraud. The reference code is the Mervärdesskattelagen (ML, 1994:200), recast in 2023 (ML, 2023:200).

Swedish VAT rates

SME franchise — SEK 80K threshold

Since 1 January 2017, Sweden applies a franchise regime for very small businesses:

• 2017-2024 threshold: SEK 30K/year turnover excluding VAT. Above this, declaration mandatory.
• 2025 increase: threshold raised to SEK 80K/year by Lag 2024:1234 (SME reform), following EU directive 2020/285 (harmonised SME regime). Effective 1 January 2025.
• Opt-in: sub-threshold businesses can voluntarily opt for the normal regime (useful for recovering input VAT on investments).
• Cross-border: since 2025, the national franchise is open to EU SMEs for their sales in Sweden via the special SME regime (notification to country of origin).

Reverse charge (omvänd skattskyldighet)

The reverse charge mechanism is codified at article ML 1 kap. 2 §. VAT is due by the business buyer and not the seller. Swedish scope:

<!-- PEPPOL UBL example — SE reverse charge invoice (construction, ML 1 kap. 2 § 4b) -->
<cac:InvoiceLine>
  <cbc:ID>1</cbc:ID>
  <cbc:InvoicedQuantity unitCode="DAY">5</cbc:InvoicedQuantity>
  <cbc:LineExtensionAmount currencyID="SEK">12500.00</cbc:LineExtensionAmount>
  <cac:Item>
    <cbc:Name>Construction work - heat pump installation</cbc:Name>
    <cac:ClassifiedTaxCategory>
      <cbc:ID>AE</cbc:ID>
      <cbc:Percent>0</cbc:Percent>
      <cac:TaxScheme><cbc:ID>VAT</cbc:ID></cac:TaxScheme>
    </cac:ClassifiedTaxCategory>
  </cac:Item>
  <cac:Price>
    <cbc:PriceAmount currencyID="SEK">2500.00</cbc:PriceAmount>
  </cac:Price>
</cac:InvoiceLine>

<cac:TaxTotal>
  <cbc:TaxAmount currencyID="SEK">0.00</cbc:TaxAmount>
  <cac:TaxSubtotal>
    <cbc:TaxableAmount currencyID="SEK">12500.00</cbc:TaxableAmount>
    <cbc:TaxAmount currencyID="SEK">0.00</cbc:TaxAmount>
    <cac:TaxCategory>
      <cbc:ID>AE</cbc:ID>
      <cbc:Percent>0</cbc:Percent>
      <cbc:TaxExemptionReason>Omvänd skattskyldighet enligt ML 1 kap. 2 § första stycket 4b</cbc:TaxExemptionReason>
      <cbc:TaxExemptionReasonCode>VATEX-EU-AE</cbc:TaxExemptionReasonCode>
      <cac:TaxScheme><cbc:ID>VAT</cbc:ID></cac:TaxScheme>
    </cac:TaxCategory>
  </cac:TaxSubtotal>
</cac:TaxTotal>

Margin schemes and special arrangements

• Margin scheme (vinstmarginalbeskattning): for second-hand goods, art objects, antiques, used cars sold by professionals. VAT calculated on the margin (purchase-sale difference), not on the total price. Codified ML 9a kap.
• Restaurant regime (restauranger och catering): uniform 12% rate since 2012 (before: 25% alcoholic drinks + 12% food on-site + 12% takeaway). Major simplification for the profession.
• Cultural regime: certain non-profit cultural associations are fully exempt (skattefri ideell verksamhet).
• Agriculture flat-rate regime: simplified threshold for small farms, annual declaration.

VAT declaration and timetable

• Frequency:
  • Monthly if annual turnover > SEK 40M
  • Quarterly if annual turnover between SEK 1M and SEK 40M
  • Annual if annual turnover < SEK 1M
• Deadline: 12th day of the 2nd month following the period (e.g. May declaration → 12 July). Payment at the same date.
• Mode: Skatteverket e-tjänst (web portal), API for ERP integration, EDI for very large companies.
• Mini-One-Stop-Shop / OSS: Skatteverket operates the Swedish OSS portal for intra-community B2C sales > EUR 10K/year. See the dedicated Skatteverket article.

PEPPOL BT-* mapping

For PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0 invoices issued in Sweden, the following VAT fields are impacted:

• BT-7 (Value added tax point date): date at which VAT becomes due. Specific to reverse charge for declaration.
• BT-30 / BT-31 (Seller tax registration identifier): Swedish VAT number in SE + 10 digits + 01 format (12 characters total). Example: SE556677889901.
• BT-118 (VAT category code): OASIS UBL code — S (Standard), AE (Reverse charge), E (Exempt), Z (Zero rated), G (Free export), O (Out of scope).
• BT-119 (VAT category rate): 25, 12, 6, or 0 numeric.
• BT-120 (VAT exemption reason text): Swedish text cited in the table above.
• BT-121 (VAT exemption reason code): VATEX-EU-AE code for EU reverse charge, VATEX-EU-G for exports outside EU.

Cross-links

• Sweden hub — full e-invoicing mandate
• PEPPOL BIS Sweden — CIUS and SE-* rules
• Skatteverket — VAT and OSS
• Bolagsverket — orgnummer and ICD 0007
• Skatteverket — Moms (SV)
• Mervärdesskattelagen 2023:200 — Riksdag
• EU Directive 2006/112 — Eur-Lex