From the 1st of January 2024 there will be a new threshold for the remuneration requirement, in order to qualify for the expert tax relief. There also might be a change in the period a person can get the tax relief. What does this new threshold entail and which changes could develop moving forward?
What is expert tax relief?
Foreign experts, scientists and key personnel are in general taxed the same way as other employees in Sweden. There is however a tax relief that offers a lower tax for these employees, the expert tax relief.
People who qualify for the expert tax relief are only taxed on 75 percent of their income for the first 5 years of their work in Sweden. Which means that 25 percent of the monthly remuneration is free from tax and social contributions. This also results in a lower social contributions payable for the employer. Only people who have gotten an approval for the expert tax relief responsible authority are able to benefit from the relief.
25 percent of the monthly remuneration is free from tax and social contributions during the first five years in Sweden.
Who is eligible for the relief?
The people who are able to qualify for the relief are the following:
- Specialist within technically advanced fields and with comprehensive knowledge within their filed
- Highly qualified scientists
- People in a leading position within the company or key personnel
- People with a monthly remuneration exceeding the amount of two price base amounts
There are further criteria in order to be qualified, we can help assist you in these assessments. Contact us for help!
Change of the threshold
As mentioned above, a person can qualify for expert tax relief based on the monthly remuneration. The threshold is to exceed two price base amounts. The base amount is adjusted on an annual basis. For the income year of 2023, the price base amount is 52 500 SEK. This means that for a person to apply for expert tax relief on the basis of their remuneration, it needs to amount to at least 105 001 SEK.
For the income year of 2024, the price bas amount will be 57 300 SEK. This means that the monthly remuneration needs to amount to at least 114 601 SEK in order to qualify.
Prolonged time period
The time period, in which a person can receive the tax relief, is currently 5 years. The government has however put forward a proposition to change the rules. The change, if it passes, would result in the possibility to apply the tax relief for an extended period, 7 instead of 5 years. This would mean that a person, who has qualified for the tax relief can stay in Sweden longer and receive the tax relief for a longer time. The proposal from the government will most likely come into force on 1 January 2024, but apply retroactively as of the 31 March 2023.
Aspia will continue to closely follow any developments of the proposal and will be able to assist clients with the new changes if they come into force.
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