Tax in Sweden: VAT, income tax, company tax, capital gains
25%
Sweden charges 25% Moms on most goods and services. The rate is verified against Skatteverket (Swedish Tax Agency) on 19 August 2026; the top personal income-tax rate is 20% (2026 tax year, Skatteverket), and the headline company tax rate is 20.6% (OECD Corporate Tax Statistics).
Moms in Sweden
Value-added: Moms is charged on sales and reclaimed on purchases, so only the added value is taxed.
- Standard rate
- 25%
- Local name
- Moms — Value Added Tax
- Type
- VAT
- Reduced rates
- 12%
- Filing
- Quarterly / Monthly / Annual
- Authority
- Skatteverket (Swedish Tax Agency)
- Current rate since
- 1 January 2000
Introduced 1969 (at a standard rate of 11.11%)
Sweden's VAT — universally called "moms" — launched in 1969 at the distinctly un-round rate of 11.11%. The oddity comes from the arithmetic of a tax quoted on the tax-inclusive price rather than the net one. It has climbed a long way since, reaching today's 25% in 1990.
What it replaced: The earlier Swedish sales tax, superseded in 1969 by the value-added "moms".
Income tax in Sweden
The top personal income-tax band is 20% for the 2026 tax year (shown as ~52% (20% state + ~32% municipal) in the rates table, which includes levies).
Company tax in Sweden
The headline corporate income tax rate is 20.6%. In effect since 1 January 2026.
Indicative only: confirm with Sweden's national tax authority. OECD 2026: central statutory CIT 20.6%, combined (central+sub-central) 20.6%; sub-central CIT 20.6%; central rate excluding surtax 20.6%
Capital gains tax in Sweden
- Shares
- Flat 30% state tax on capital income; the full gain on listed (marknadsnoterade) shares is taxable at 30%. Losses on listed shares offset gains first; any remaining loss is deductible at 70% (at a reduced rate beyond SEK 100,000 of net capital deficit per Skatteverket summary).
- Property
- Private residence (privatbostad, incl. villa, holiday home, bostadsrätt): 30% tax on 22/30 of the gain = effective 22%; 50% of losses deductible. Commercial/investment property classified as näringsfastighet sold by a private person: 90% of the gain taxable in the capital income category at 30% (effective 27%).
- Holding period
- None - no distinction between short- and long-term holdings.
Did you know? Sweden tax facts
Sweden's VAT launched in 1969 at 11.11% — not a rounding error, but the consequence of quoting the rate against a tax-inclusive price rather than the net one.
The OECD's record shows the standard rate has ranged between 17.65% and 25.0% since; it reached 25% in 1990, up from 23.5% the year before, and Sweden still runs reduced rates of 0%, 6% and 12%.
Source: OECD Consumption Tax Trends — Sweden ↗Swedes can sidestep capital gains tax entirely with an ISK investment savings account, which charges a small yearly tax on the account's value — generally under 1% — instead of taxing each gain.
Wikipedia: with an ISK a private individual pays 'a yearly tax instead of the capital gains tax', generally less than 1% of the account's current value. Municipal income tax in 2024 ranged from 28.98% to 35.30%, with a 20% national tax on incomes over SEK 614,000.
Source: Wikipedia — Taxation in Sweden · checked 10 October 2026 ↗Sweden separated church and state in 2000, yet church fees of up to 2% of income are still collected through the tax system from members — and everyone, member or not, pays a burial fee.
Wikipedia's Church tax article: in Sweden church fees vary by municipality and can reach 2%; church and state separated in 2000, but everyone pays a burial fee.
Source: Wikipedia — Church tax · checked 10 October 2026 ↗
More stories, for every country that has one, on the tax facts page.
Ask your AI assistant about tax in Sweden
The figures on this page are callable by any MCP-compatible assistant through the free Tax MCP. Add https://taxmcp.ai2fin.com as a custom connector in Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or your own agent — no login, no API key — then ask:
- “What is the Moms rate in Sweden, and what is the source?”
- “Estimate income tax in Sweden on SEK 60,000 for 2026.”
- “What is the company tax rate in Sweden and how is it sourced?”
Connect in three steps, and what a connected answer looks like: Tax MCP.
Sweden, answered
Questions about tax in Sweden
- What is the Moms rate in Sweden?
- The standard Moms (Value Added Tax) rate in Sweden is 25%, verified against Skatteverket (Swedish Tax Agency) on 19 August 2026. A reduced rate of 12% applies to some categories. Value-added: Moms is charged on sales and reclaimed on purchases, so only the added value is taxed.
- What is the top income tax rate in Sweden?
- The top personal income-tax band in Sweden is 20% for the 2026 tax year, verified against Skatteverket on 6 October 2026. The free income-tax calculator on this site works through the bands below it, and shows the rate table it used.
- What is the company tax rate in Sweden?
- The headline corporate income tax rate in Sweden is 20.6%, as published by OECD Corporate Tax Statistics (checked 6 October 2026, verification pending). Indicative only: confirm with Sweden's national tax authority. OECD 2026: central statutory CIT 20.6%, combined (central+sub-central) 20.6%; sub-central CIT 20.6%; central rate excluding surtax 20.6%
- How is capital gains tax charged in Sweden?
- In Sweden, gains are taxed at their own rate, separate from income, verified against Skatteverket on 6 October 2026. On shares: Flat 30% state tax on capital income; the full gain on listed (marknadsnoterade) shares is taxable at 30%. Losses on listed shares offset gains first; any remaining loss is deductible at 70% (at a reduced rate beyond SEK 100,000 of net capital deficit per Skatteverket summary). Holding period: None - no distinction between short- and long-term holdings.
- Can an AI assistant look up tax rates for Sweden?
- Yes. The free Tax MCP at https://taxmcp.ai2fin.com gives Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any MCP-compatible agent the same sourced figures as this page: the Moms rate, an income-tax estimate, the company tax rate, the capital gains rule and a side-by-side comparison with other countries, each answer citing the authority and the date it was checked. Add the endpoint as a custom connector; there is no login or API key.
Sources
- Skatteverket (Swedish Tax Agency)
- Skatteverket
- OECD Corporate Tax Statistics
- OECD Consumption Tax Trends — Sweden
- Wikipedia — Taxation in Sweden
- Wikipedia — Church tax
Last checked 10 October 2026. General information computed from published government rates, not tax advice. Check the linked authority or a registered adviser before relying on a figure.
See every rate side by side in the tax rates table, put Sweden next to another country in the comparison tool, or read the tax facts.
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