Employing staff who work in Sweden? A foreign employer can have Swedish payroll and reporting obligations even without a permanent establishment. Skattepunkten helps you assess the position and set up the practical routines.
We bring tax consulting and accounting together for employers with cross-border staff, labour-hire arrangements and Swedish clients. You get a Swedish contact who can coordinate the assessment, registrations and ongoing reporting with your payroll team abroad.
A clear Swedish contact for your employer questions
Need help with staff working in Sweden?
Tell us about your company, the work in Sweden and the support you need. We can then discuss the assessment and a suitable scope of assistance. Registration is not an order.
If you have any questions before submitting your registration, you are always welcome to contact us.
From the working arrangement to monthly reporting
How we help foreign and economic employers
We connect the tax assessment with practical payroll routines, whether you need an initial review or ongoing help with Swedish reporting.
Assessing the Swedish position
We review the working arrangement, the parties involved and the tax questions before deciding which practical steps are needed.
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- Foreign employers with or without a permanent establishment
- Economic employer and labour-hire assessments
- The 183-day rule and relevant tax treaties
- Employees working on assignments or remotely in Sweden
- … and more
Employer registration and PAYE
We help connect the assessment with Swedish employer registration, tax deductions and the required reporting.
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- Preparing an employer registration
- Reviewing tax decisions and withholding requirements
- Monthly PAYE returns and supporting records
- Questions and correspondence with Skatteverket
- … and more
Payroll across borders
We help coordinate the Swedish payroll information with your existing routines and advisers abroad.
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- Salary, benefits and Swedish workday records
- Coordination with your home-country payroll team
- Social security and A1 documentation
- Reconciliations and follow-up of earlier reporting
- … and more
A structured approach to cross-border employment
How we work
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Understand the working arrangement
We discuss the employer, the client, where the work is carried out and who directs it, together with the planned dates and payroll arrangements.
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Assess tax and reporting obligations
We review the economic employer questions, relevant exemptions and the information needed to assess Swedish payroll and social security requirements.
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Prepare the agreed registrations and reporting
We help prepare the applications, calculations and PAYE information included in the assignment, based on the records and decisions available.
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Coordinate the ongoing routines
We agree how your payroll team will provide information and how changes in workdays, assignments or tax decisions will be followed up.
Foreign employers, Swedish clients and cross-border staff
Frequently asked questions
Can a foreign employer have obligations without a permanent establishment?
Yes. Swedish tax deduction and employer reporting obligations can arise even if the employer has no permanent establishment in Sweden. The employer's position and the employee's circumstances need to be assessed separately.
What is an economic employer?
In a labour-hire arrangement, the economic employer is the business for which the employee's work is performed, while the formal employer pays the salary. The assessment considers how the work is directed and organised, not just what the agreement is called.
Are employees automatically exempt if they stay less than 183 days?
No. The 183-day rule has several conditions and generally does not cover hired-out workers. Short-term exceptions and any applicable tax treaty also need to be considered. We review the actual arrangement and dates rather than assume a short stay is tax-free.
Do we need a Swedish company to register as an employer?
A non-Swedish business can register with the Swedish Tax Agency. Employer registration and the question of whether a Swedish company or branch is needed are separate matters. We help identify which registrations are relevant to your operations.
Which tax deductions should we make from salaries?
The applicable Swedish withholding rules and any relevant Tax Agency decision need to be considered. A home-country payroll calculation is not, on its own, enough to establish the Swedish treatment. We help review the available decisions and payroll information.
Can you prepare the Swedish PAYE returns?
Yes. We can agree an assignment covering the relevant payroll information, calculations and monthly PAYE reporting. We also clarify who provides the underlying records and who is responsible for filing and payment.
Does an A1 certificate mean that no Swedish income tax is due?
No. An A1 certificate concerns the social security legislation that applies; it does not, by itself, establish an exemption from Swedish income tax. Social security contributions and income tax deductions must be assessed separately.
Can we keep our payroll processing in our home country?
We can coordinate the Swedish work with your existing payroll team or adviser. We agree how salary, benefits, workdays and other relevant information will be shared, so Swedish reporting can be reconciled with the home-country records.
Can you help if registration or reporting has been missed?
Yes. We can review the earlier periods and identify the steps needed to address missing or incorrect information. Any tax, interest or other consequences depend on the circumstances. We do not promise that a correction will remove all charges or penalties.
What information should we prepare first?
Start with a description of the employer, the Swedish client or workplace, the work to be performed and the relevant dates. Tell us who directs the work, how salary costs are handled and whether there are existing Swedish registrations or tax decisions. We then agree which supporting documents are needed.
Want help with your Swedish employer obligations?
Register as a new client so we can consider how we can help you. Registration is not an order. If you have any questions before submitting your registration, you are always welcome to contact us.
Swedish expertise with international reach
Coordinating employer questions across borders
Skattepunkten is a member of ETL GLOBAL. When an employment arrangement involves several countries, we can coordinate the Swedish questions with your existing advisers or relevant local expertise abroad.
You keep a clear Swedish contact while the agreed work is connected with the employer's wider tax and payroll arrangements.
Official guidance in English
Relevant links
These official English-language pages provide further information about tax deductions, economic employers, social security contributions and employer registration.
This page provides general information, not an assessment of a particular employment or labour-hire arrangement. The work performed, the parties' roles, applicable tax treaties and social security rules, and relevant decisions affect the obligations.