Liquidity enhancement via the tax account

The extension covers three months of tax payments and may be granted for a period of no more than 12 months.

The new rules are proposed to become effective as of 7 April 2020 but may be applied retroactively from 1 January 2020. According to the government, this means that companies that have made tax payments to their tax account for January to March may be refunded by the Swedish Tax Agency. Extensions will not be granted to companies that mismanage their finances or are otherwise “unserious”. Extensions will also not be granted to companies with major tax liabilities. When an extension is granted, the tax account is charged an interest of 1.25 percent and an extension fee of 0.3 percent of the deferred amount for each started month. The January parties are now investigating the possibility of lowering the interest in the crisis package.

At this time, the Swedish Tax Agency has not yet prepared any particular forms or routines with respect to extensions or refunds in accordance with the new government proposal. Until further notice, the form for payment respite due to temporary payment problems, “Ansökan om anstånd med betalning av skatt på grund av tillfälliga betalningssvårigheter (SKV 4305)” applies.

Don’t forget to review your preliminary tax charged (F-tax). The effects of the spread of the coronavirus will in many cases lead to a decrease in revenues compared to what was expected, which in turn may mean that your F-tax is too high. You can apply to change the F-tax by logging on to the Swedish Tax Agency’s e-service and submitting new supporting documents or filling out and submitting a new preliminary tax return (SKV 4313). Don’t forget that the current F-tax applies until the Swedish Tax Agency has made a decision on a new F-tax.

Updated 23 March 2020

The Finance Committee of the parliament  has agreed on means for companies to receive a refund of prepaid taxes earlier. The companies will be able to apply for a refund as of March 30^th. Thereby the application can be filed one week earlier than previously announced.

Updated 25 March 2020

The Swedish Tax Agency has stated that companies can apply for extension digitally using My Pages (Mina sidor) on the Swedish Tax Agency’s website. It will also be possible to apply using a form, but the processing will take longer. Once the Swedish Tax Agency has made a decision on extension, the company will be notified via Mina sidor and via regular mail. One quick way of finding out whether an extension has been approved is to log in to the e-service Tax Account (Skattekontot). Once a decision is made, it will be registered there.

A granted extension is registered as a payment to the tax account. Companies that have paid taxes to the tax account for January to March may request payment through the e-service Skattekontot if there is a payable surplus.

Furthermore, the Swedish Tax Agency has stated that if you receive notice a few days after the due date, the granted extension will be credited to the tax account with the amount on the regular due date.

Updated 26 March 2020

The Swedish Tax Agency has stated that they, as a general rule, won’t be applying for representative liability against a representative for unpaid taxes and fees, which in some cases are subject to the law on deferment with tax payment. Exceptions can be made if companies, in an obvious way, have used the opportunities in complete violation to the purpose of the deferral.