New Swedish limited company: what to register with the Tax Agency

Bolagsverket, the Swedish Companies Registration Office, has registered your aktiebolag (limited company). You have an organisation number and maybe a customer waiting for an invoice. But as far as Skatteverket, the Swedish Tax Agency, is concerned, the company is still an empty shell. Bolagsverket gives you a name and a number. F-tax, VAT and employer registration are separate applications.

One application, three decisions

Everything goes into a single application, either through the e-service on verksamt.se or on the paper form Företagsregistrering (SKV 4620). You tick what the company needs and at the same time file a preliminär inkomstdeklaration (preliminary income tax return), which is an estimate of this year’s profit. Do it online. It is faster and you avoid posting paper.

Send the application the same day the company is registered. Skatteverket says a registration can take up to six weeks to process, and longer if they need more information. If you have lived in Sweden for less than two years, you also need to attach certificates of tax debts from the countries you lived in, no more than three months old. For many readers of this text, that is the step that causes the delay.

F-tax has to be in place when the customer pays

F-skatt (F-tax approval) shows that the company pays its own tax. If the approval is missing when you sign the agreement or when the customer pays, the customer normally has to withhold tax from the payment as if you were an employee. According to Skatteverket’s page on F-tax, an approval that arrives after the payment cannot be relied on for that job. So hold the invoice until the decision arrives, or set the due date after you expect it.

A limited company can only hold F-tax, never FA-skatt, the combined option for sole traders who are also employed. Skatteverket also vets you as a board member and anyone holding more than half the votes. Significant unpaid taxes, a trading ban or past misuse of F-tax can get the company refused.

VAT: register even if you could skip it

Since 1 January 2025, businesses with annual turnover of no more than 120,000 kronor can be exempt from VAT, provided they did not exceed the limit in either of the two previous years. That sounds convenient, but being exempt means you cannot deduct the VAT on your purchases.

For most new limited companies it is the wrong choice. You buy a computer, software and services from day one, and you want that input VAT back. If you sell to other businesses, VAT makes no difference to your customer. The exemption mainly suits someone selling small volumes to consumers with almost no purchases. And once you pass 120,000 kronor, you must charge VAT starting with the sale that took you over the limit.

Employer registration only if the company pays salary

The company must be registered as an employer before it pays any compensation for work. That applies even if the only person on the payroll is you. If you will not take a salary in the first year, you can skip it now and file a change notification later. If you plan to pay yourself before year end, tick the box now so you are not waiting for a decision in December.

Preliminary tax: estimate honestly, not low

Based on your preliminary return, Skatteverket sets the company’s debiterad preliminärskatt (assessed preliminary tax). It is paid in equal monthly amounts and usually has to be in your tax account by the 12th. Corporate tax is 20.6 percent of the profit.

Say you expect a profit of 400,000 kronor in the first year. The tax is 82,400 kronor, roughly 6,867 kronor a month.

If things turn out differently, you file a new preliminary return, for limited companies Preliminär inkomstdeklaration 2 (SKV 4313) or the e-service. You are required to do so when the difference is significant, which Skatteverket describes as around 30 percent and at least one prisbasbelopp (price base amount). The price base amount for 2026 is 59,200 kronor.

If the profit in the example lands at 150,000 kronor, the tax is 30,900 kronor. The difference of 51,500 kronor is over 60 percent but below one price base amount, so you are not obliged to change it. If the result is zero, the difference is 82,400 kronor, and then you must. Change it in both cases anyway. A limited company cannot get an early refund, so money you overpaid stays in the tax account until the decision is changed.

Before you log in

Put together a simple budget for the first twelve months before you open the e-service. Income minus costs, including any salary you plan to take, is enough. That number drives your preliminary tax. If your first financial year is longer or shorter than twelve months, check the decision carefully so the monthly amount matches the period you actually budgeted for.