Questions for Swedish small businesses

Three things differ: who answers for the debts, how the profit is taxed and what it takes to start. A sole trader is personally liable and taxed on the result; a limited company answers with its own capital of at least SEK 25,000 and the owner is taxed on salary or dividends.

SFS 2005:551 · SFS 1999:1229 · Bolagsverket · read 2026-08-25

Three registrations, three different triggers: F-tax when the business starts, VAT once turnover passes SEK 120,000 in the tax year, and employer registration before the first salary is paid.

SFS 2011:1244 · SFS 2023:200 · Skatteverkets rättsliga vägledning · read 2026-08-25

Below SEK 120,000 of turnover per tax year the business is exempt, provided the limit was not passed in either of the two preceding years. If the limit is crossed during the year, VAT applies from the supply that crosses it.

SFS 2023:200 · Skatteverket · read 2026-08-25

The bookkeeping duty applies to every business from the first transaction, records must be kept for seven years, and a limited company must also prepare and file an annual report after each financial year.

SFS 1999:1078 · SFS 1995:1554 · read 2026-08-25

An auditor is required once the company exceeds more than one of three limits, more than 3 employees on average, a balance sheet total above SEK 1.5 million and net turnover above SEK 3 million, in each of the two most recent financial years.

SFS 2005:551 · Bolagsverket · read 2026-08-25

Permanent employment is the main rule. Probation may run for six months at most, and fixed-term employment converts to permanent after more than twelve months in total within a five-year period.

SFS 1982:80 · read 2026-08-25

Dismissal requires objective reasons. Notice runs from one to six months by length of service, the order of selection follows service within the operating unit, and the employer may exempt three employees of particular importance.

SFS 1982:80 · read 2026-08-25

From the first employee: contributions of 31.42 per cent, a monthly PAYE return, fourteen days of sick pay and systematic work environment management. At five employees a safety representative is appointed, at ten the work environment work must be documented in writing, and at fifty a safety committee is required.

SFS 2000:980 · SFS 2011:1244 · SFS 1991:1047 · read 2026-08-25

The circumstances decide, not the heading of the contract. The more the person is integrated into the business, works set hours, uses the client's tools and carries no financial risk, the more it points to employment.

SFS 1982:80 · SFS 2011:1244 · SFS 2000:980 · read 2026-08-25

The period follows the tax base: up to SEK 1 million a year means annual reporting, between 1 and 40 million means quarterly, above 40 million means monthly. Payment must be on the tax account by the day the return is due.

SFS 2011:1244 · Skatteverket · read 2026-08-25

Both sickness benefit and state pension are calculated on the surplus of the business, not on turnover. A low reported surplus therefore gives low qualifying income and low pension rights, even where the business turns over a great deal.

SFS 2010:110 · Försäkringskassan · SFS 2000:980 · read 2026-08-25

Terms must reach the customer before the contract to apply, consumers have fourteen days to withdraw from a distance contract, and the GDPR applies from the first personal data item however small the company is.

SFS 1915:218 · SFS 2005:59 · SFS 2022:260 · read 2026-08-25