Quick overview
| Standard Rate | Other Rates |
| 25% | 12% and 6% |
The local name for VAT in Sweden is Mervärdesskatt (Moms).
For Sweden, there have not been much developments about the applicable VAT rate. Recently, the Tax Law Board explained the rate for the publication of digital teaching material, we see a post about assignments in connection with radio, television or film production, and a clarification about the rate for mediation when renting out temporary housing. For more information about (recent) rate change developments in Sweden, please click here.
Standard rate: 25%
This is in place since 1 July 1990. Before that, the standard rate was 23,46%. This rate applies for all transactions that take place in Sweden, unless an exception applies (such as a reduced rate, the zero rate or an exemption, or a reason to treat the transaction as outside scope of VAT).
Zero rate (0%)
Sweden applies various exemptions with a refund of tax paid at preceding stages (zero rates), such as intra-Community and international transport, intra-Community supplies of goods, international transport of passengers, and exports of goods (and related services) to non-EU countries.
In certain EU countries, there are cases where the zero rate is also applied to local consumption (Title VIII, Chapter 4 of the VAT directive 2006/112/EC). For Sweden, this applies to:
- Services with regard to production (basically printing services) of membership periodicals, staff periodicals and periodicals issued by non-profit organisations, including services related to such production, such as distribution services
- Medicine supplied on prescription or sold to hospitals or imported into the country to be supplied on prescription or sold to hospitals.
Reduced rate 1: 12%
Examples of supplies subject to this rate are:
- Foodstuffs (except spirits, wine, beer etc.)
- Hotel accommodation
- Restaurant and catering services
- Minor repairing (including mending and alteration) of bicycles, shoes and leather goods, clothing and household linen
Reduced rate 2: 6%
Examples of supplies subject to this rate are:
- Books
- Goods that make information available to people with reading disabilities through sign language or Braille etc.
- Newspapers
- Periodicals
- Certain museum activities. Shows, theatres, circuses, concerts, zoos etc.
- Certain supplies within the culture sector.
- Certain admission to sporting events and use of sporting facilities
For a description of how the VAT rates are structured in the European Union, please see here. The European Commission has also made an EU VAT rate database available where you can find the applicable VAT rate by entering the CN/CPA code of the goods respectively services (you can find more information here).
A global VAT/GST rate overview can be found here (note this is a work in progress).
This post was last updated on 5 April 2021.
