What is Moms (Mervärdesskatt — Swedish VAT)?
Moms is Swedish VAT (mervärdesskatt). The standard rate is 25%, with reduced rates of 12% for food, restaurant meals, and hotels, and 6% for newspapers, books, sports, cultural events, and public transport. The registration threshold is SEK 120,000 annual turnover.
Current Rate (Inkomstår 2025)
25% standard; 12% reduced; 6% lower reduced (2025)
Example
A Swedish web agency invoices a client SEK 100,000 for services. It adds 25% moms = SEK 25,000, for a total invoice of SEK 125,000. If the agency paid SEK 8,000 ingående moms on its own costs, it remits SEK 25,000 - SEK 8,000 = SEK 17,000 to Skatteverket.
How Moms (Mervärdesskatt — Swedish VAT) works in Sweden
Moms (mervärdesskatt) is Sweden's implementation of the EU VAT Directive, applying to virtually all goods and services supplied by businesses in Sweden.
**Three rate tiers**
Sweden operates three VAT rates:
25% standard rate: applies to most goods and services including professional services, software, SaaS, electronics, clothing, alcohol, most commercial transactions.
12% reduced rate: food and non-alcoholic beverages (including takeaway), restaurant and catering services, hotel accommodation and camping, non-food items sold in grocery stores where the main product is food, repairs to bicycles/shoes/clothing/leather goods.
6% lower reduced rate: newspapers and magazines (print and digital), books (print and digital), cultural and sporting events (admission), passenger transport within Sweden, concert and theatre tickets.
0% / exempt: exports to non-EU countries, intra-EU B2B supplies (avdragsgill utan moms with EC Sales List reporting), financial services, insurance, most health and education services.
**Registration threshold**
Businesses with turnover above SEK 120,000 in a 12-month period must register for moms. Below this threshold, registration is optional. Once registered, all taxable supplies must include moms.
**Filing frequency**
Filing frequency depends on turnover: - Under SEK 1 million: annual moms return, or optionally quarterly/monthly - SEK 1 million to SEK 40 million: quarterly returns (filed by the 12th of the second month after the quarter) - Over SEK 40 million: monthly returns (filed by the 12th of the second following month)
All momsdeklarationer are filed electronically via Skatteverket's e-tjänster (My Pages).
**Ingående vs utgående moms**
Businesses collect utgående moms (output VAT) on sales and pay ingående moms (input VAT) on purchases. The net is remitted to or reclaimed from Skatteverket. Input VAT is deductible on costs used in taxable business activity — private-use proportions must be excluded.
**Reverse charge**
For B2B purchases of services from EU suppliers, the Swedish buyer accounts for moms under the reverse charge. The seller invoices without VAT; the buyer self-assesses both output and input moms (usually netting to zero for fully taxable businesses).
**OSS and IOSS**
Swedish businesses selling goods or digital services to EU consumers (B2C) can use the One Stop Shop (OSS) to report all EU consumer VAT through Skatteverket, avoiding individual country registrations.
Related terms
Skatteverket is the Swedish Tax Agency, responsible for tax assessment, collection, population registration (folkbokföring), and identity numbers. All company and individual tax filings — including moms, arbetsgivardeklarationer, and income tax returns — are submitted via Skatteverket's e-tjänster (digital services).
An Aktiebolag (AB) is a Swedish limited company, the most common business structure for entrepreneurs and SMEs. Minimum share capital is SEK 25,000. The AB is registered with Bolagsverket and is a separate legal entity with limited shareholder liability. At least one director must be resident in the EEA.
F-skatt (F-skattsedel) is a Swedish tax approval status for self-employed individuals and businesses, indicating that the holder is responsible for paying their own preliminary tax. When a client pays an F-skatt holder, the client is not required to withhold tax (A-skatt), making F-skatt essential for freelancers and sole traders.
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