Sweden Invoice Requirements (Moms, F-skatt and Fakturor)

Sweden has one requirement that catches out almost every freelancer who has not worked there before, and it has nothing to do with VAT. It is F-skatt — and if your invoice does not mention it, your Swedish client may be legally obliged to withhold tax from your fee and pay employer social contributions on top of it.

That single line is the difference between a Swedish company treating you as a supplier and treating you as something closer to an employee. Get it right and Swedish invoicing is otherwise straightforward, because it follows the EU VAT Directive closely.

This is general information, not tax or legal advice. Swedish tax is administered by Skatteverket, and cross-border situations in particular depend on your own circumstances. Confirm your position with Skatteverket or a Swedish accountant.

F-skatt: the field that matters most

F-skatt (F-tax) is approval from Skatteverket confirming that you are responsible for paying your own preliminary tax and social contributions. Sole traders, companies and partnerships that run a business can apply for it.

Its significance is on the client's side. When a Swedish business pays someone who does not hold F-skatt approval, the payer must generally deduct preliminary tax from the payment and may be liable for employer social security contributions. That is a real cost and a real administrative burden, so Swedish clients strongly prefer suppliers who hold it — and many will not engage at all without it.

If you have F-skatt, state it on the invoice. The standard wording is:

Godkänd för F-skatt — approved for F-tax

Some businesses add "Innehar F-skattsedel", which means the same thing. Either satisfies the client's need to document why they did not withhold.

Foreign companies without a Swedish permanent establishment can apply for Swedish F-skatt, and it is often worth doing if you invoice Swedish clients regularly. Since 2021, Sweden has applied an economic-employer approach and tightened withholding rules on payments to foreign entities without F-skatt, so the question comes up more often than it used to.

VAT (moms) rates

Sweden applies:

• 25% — the standard rate
• 12% — food, restaurant and catering services, hotel accommodation
• 6% — books, newspapers, passenger transport, cultural and sporting events
• 0% — a small set of zero-rated supplies, including exports

Standard rate is the default, and at 25% Sweden has one of the higher rates in the EU, so misapplying it is expensive.

Registration

Sweden does not operate a general domestic VAT registration threshold in the way some countries do. There is a limited exemption for very small businesses with turnover below a low annual figure, but most businesses trading in Sweden register.

On registration you receive a momsregistreringsnummer — a VAT number in the format SE followed by 12 digits. This is normally your organisation number with 01 appended. You will also have an organisationsnummer (organisation number) or, for sole traders, your personnummer serves that role.

What a Swedish invoice must contain

Sweden implements the EU VAT Directive, so the mandatory fields will look familiar to anyone who has invoiced elsewhere in the EU:

1. Date of issue
2. A sequential number that uniquely identifies the invoice
3. Your VAT registration number
4. The customer's VAT number, where reverse charge applies or for intra-EU supplies
5. Your full name and address
6. The customer's full name and address
7. The quantity and nature of the goods or the extent and nature of the services
8. The date of supply or completion, if different from the invoice date
9. The taxable amount per rate, unit price excluding VAT, and any discounts not already included
10. The VAT rate applied
11. The VAT amount payable, in SEK
12. Where no VAT is charged, a reference to the reason — the relevant provision, or wording such as "reverse charge"

A simplified invoice is permitted for small amounts — the threshold is SEK 4,000 including VAT — needing only the date, the supplier's identity and VAT number, a description of what was supplied, and the VAT amount or the information needed to calculate it.

Currency

You may invoice in any currency, but the VAT amount must be shown in SEK. If you invoice a Swedish client in euros, convert the VAT figure to kronor using an accepted rate — typically the rate published by Riksbanken or the European Central Bank — and show it.

Selling to other EU countries

For business-to-business supplies to VAT-registered customers elsewhere in the EU, the reverse charge normally applies. You do not charge Swedish moms. Your invoice needs:

• your Swedish VAT number
• the customer's VAT number, validated through VIES
• the wording "Omvänd betalningsskyldighet" or "Reverse charge"

You must also report these supplies in a periodic summary, the periodisk sammanställning (EC Sales List).

Domestically, Sweden also applies a reverse charge within the construction sector, which works differently from the cross-border rule — if you work in building or construction, check whether it applies to you.

E-invoicing

Sweden was an early mover here. Since 1 April 2019, all invoices to Swedish public sector bodies must be electronic and must follow the Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 standard. A PDF emailed to a public authority does not satisfy this — it must be a structured electronic invoice sent through the Peppol network.

For business-to-business invoicing there is no equivalent mandate, and PDF remains normal. But Peppol adoption is high among larger Swedish companies, and many will ask whether you can send through it.

Payment terms and late payment

The Swedish Interest Act (räntelagen) allows interest on overdue commercial invoices at the Riksbank reference rate plus eight percentage points. Thirty days is the customary default term for business invoices where nothing else is agreed.

Sweden also has a well-established factoring and debt collection culture, and sending an unpaid invoice to inkasso after a reminder is routine rather than aggressive.

Record keeping

Under the Swedish Bookkeeping Act (bokföringslagen), accounting records including invoices must generally be retained for seven years after the end of the calendar year in which the financial year ended.

Checklist

• "Godkänd för F-skatt" stated, if you hold it — this is the field Swedish clients look for first
• Sequential invoice number
• Your name, address and SE-prefixed VAT number
• Customer's name, address, and VAT number for intra-EU B2B
• Date of issue, and date of supply if different
• Description with quantities
• Taxable amount per rate, and the rate applied (25%, 12% or 6%)
• VAT amount in SEK, with the exchange rate if invoiced in another currency
• Reverse-charge wording where applicable, plus the EC Sales List filing
• Peppol BIS 3.0 format if the customer is a public authority

FAQ

What is F-skatt and do I need it?

F-skatt is Skatteverket approval confirming you pay your own preliminary tax and social contributions. You are not legally required to hold it, but without it a Swedish client paying you must generally withhold preliminary tax and may owe employer contributions — so in practice most Swedish businesses require their suppliers to have it.

Can a foreign company get Swedish F-skatt?

Yes. Foreign companies without a permanent establishment in Sweden can apply to Skatteverket for F-skatt approval. If you invoice Swedish clients with any regularity it is usually worth doing, particularly since the withholding rules on payments to foreign entities were tightened in 2021.

What is the VAT rate in Sweden?

25% is the standard rate. 12% applies to food, restaurants and hotels; 6% to books, newspapers, passenger transport and cultural events.

Can I invoice a Swedish client in euros?

Yes, but the VAT amount must be shown in Swedish kronor, using an accepted exchange rate such as the Riksbank or ECB reference rate.

Do I have to send e-invoices to Swedish clients?

Only to the public sector. Since April 2019 all invoices to Swedish public authorities must be structured electronic invoices in Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 format — a PDF will be rejected. For private-sector B2B there is no mandate, though Peppol is widely used.

How long must I keep invoices in Sweden?

Generally seven years after the end of the calendar year in which the financial year ended, under the Bookkeeping Act.