Income tax in Sweden consists primarily of municipal and regional taxes, which average 32.38% in 2026. A flat national state tax of 20% applies only to taxable earned income above SEK 643,000. Your monthly withholding table already accounts for the basic allowance and the earned income tax credit.

What actually comes off a Swedish salary

Your total tax rate is the sum of municipal tax, regional tax, and the burial fee (begravningsavgift), along with the church fee (kyrkoavgift) if you are a member of the Church of Sweden. Monthly deductions are handled through official tax tables that already include municipal and state income tax, the general pension contribution, the public service fee, the burial fee, and any registered faith community fee. These tables also incorporate the basic allowance (grundavdrag) and the earned income tax credit (jobbskatteavdrag).

According to Skatteverket's rule of thumb, below the state income tax threshold you pay roughly SEK 300 in tax on each extra SEK 1,000 earned. Above the state income tax threshold, roughly SEK 500 of each extra SEK 1,000 goes towards tax. In 2026, there is no state income tax on taxable earned income up to SEK 643,000; above that figure, the state tax is 20%. See Sweden minimum wage and average salary for what salaries look like before tax.

Municipal and regional tax in 2026

Statistics Sweden (SCB) puts the average total municipal tax rate for 2026—municipal plus regional tax—at 32.38%, which is slightly lower than the year before. The lowest total rate in 2026 is Österåker's 28.93% – Österåker has had the lowest rate in Sweden for eight years running – while the highest is Dorotea's 35.65%.

Total municipal tax rates in 2026 across major cities break down as follows:

Which tax table applies to you depends on where you were registered (folkbokförd) on 1 November of the year before the income year. Every member of the Church of Sweden pays the church fee to the parish they lived in on 1 November of the previous year, and this fee is shown separately on the final tax statement.

State income tax and the 2026 threshold

In 2026, there is no state income tax on taxable earned income up to SEK 643,000; above that, the state tax is 20%. For the 2026 income year, the threshold (skiktgräns) is SEK 643,000 of taxable earned income, which means your income after the basic allowance has been deducted. Skatteverket sets specific gross breakpoints based on your age:

Basic allowance and the earned income tax credit

For someone under 66 at the start of 2026, the basic allowance is SEK 25,100 at low incomes, a maximum of SEK 45,600, and a minimum of SEK 17,400 at high incomes. If you lived in Sweden for only part of the year, you normally receive a reduced basic allowance for each whole or partial month you lived here. However, if you did not live in Sweden all year but declare 90% or more of your earned income in Sweden, you can claim the full-year basic allowance in your return.

People who had turned 66 by the start of 2026 receive a higher basic allowance, ranging from SEK 65,800 at low incomes up to SEK 179,100, and a minimum of SEK 117,500 at high incomes; this is incorporated directly into the tax tables. From 1 January 2027, the age limit for the higher basic allowance will rise, meaning people born in 1960 or later will receive it from the year they turn 68.

The earned income tax credit can only be set against municipal income tax, not state income tax, and cannot exceed your municipal tax. Its size depends on how much you earn from work and on whether you had turned 66 at the start of the income year. Sickness benefit, parental benefit, unemployment benefit, and pensions do not qualify for the credit. Furthermore, it does not reduce the burial fee, the church or faith community fee, or the general pension contribution.

How tax is withheld during the year

Employees, and most pensioners, have A-skatt (A-tax), which means the payer deducts tax from the salary or pension before paying it out. The tax rate is rounded to a whole number and that number represents your table; for example, a rate of 32.50% uses table 32, while 32.51% uses table 33. Pay that is not your main income is taxed at a flat 30% withholding rate instead of using the table.

Different rules apply if you run a sole proprietorship:

If your income varies or the table deducts too much, you can apply to Skatteverket to adjust your withholding (jämkning). The e-service opens on 1 October, and 9 November is the last day to apply for a full-year adjustment.

The income tax return and refunds

Income earned in 2026 is declared in the 2027 tax return. You will most likely have to file if you live in Sweden permanently or have recently moved here and plan to stay for more than one year, as residents pay tax in Sweden on all their income. Moving administration is covered in moving to Sweden: the order of steps in 2026.

Skatteverket has not yet published the 2027 filing dates. During the 2026 filing season that has just ended (declaring 2025 income), returns could be filed from 17 March. The 2026 deadline was 4 May, or 1 June with an extension. Those who approved their return digitally without changes by 31 March received any refund on 7–10 April, with refunds paid automatically to a bank account registered with Skatteverket. Those who filed by 4 May 2026 and whose return was approved received their refunds on 9–12 June.

Non-residents and SINK

People who live in Sweden, stay here regularly, or maintain significant connections here have unlimited tax liability and are taxed in Sweden on all income, regardless of its source. Staying in Sweden for at least six consecutive months counts as a permanent stay. It is the length of the stay, not the duration of the job, that determines whether ordinary A-tax or SINK (särskild inkomstskatt för utomlands bosatta) applies.

If you live abroad and work in Sweden for less than six months, commute daily into Sweden, or receive a Swedish pension, you can apply for SINK. Either you or your employer can apply; see the guide to the Swedish personal number for details on personal and coordination numbers.

The Riksdag reduced SINK from 25% to 22.5% of taxable income from 1 January 2026, for income received after 31 December 2025, and the same decision lowers it further to 20% from 1 January 2027. Under SINK, salary is taxed at 22.5% and you do not file a Swedish tax return, which means you cannot claim deductions.

A new SINK application is required for each income year, and Skatteverket cannot process applications for the next year until December at the earliest. Without a SINK decision, the payer must withhold ordinary preliminary tax, though any excess can be reclaimed once the decision arrives. A non-resident who chooses ordinary taxation under the Income Tax Act instead of SINK pays the 2026 average municipal rate of 32.38%, and receives the basic allowance and earned income tax credit if at least 90% of their earned income comes from Sweden.

Expert tax relief, capital income and what the employer pays

Under the expert tax relief scheme, 25% of salary and benefits from the work is excluded from taxable income, along with untaxed reimbursement of moving costs, trips home, and children's school fees. The relief applies for a maximum of seven years from the day the stay in Sweden began. The conditions are considered met if monthly pay for the work in Sweden exceeds one and a half times the price base amount (prisbasbelopp) for the year the work starts; otherwise, the employee must qualify as an expert, researcher, or key person based on the work itself. The price base amount for 2026 is SEK 59,200.

To qualify, the employee must not be a Swedish citizen, must not have lived or stayed permanently in Sweden in the five calendar years before the work starts, and the stay must be intended to last for a maximum of seven years. Forskarskattenämnden decides whether the conditions are met.

Capital income is taxed at a flat rate of 30%. From 2026, savings in an investment savings account (investeringssparkonto or ISK), capital insurance, and PEPP are untaxed up to SEK 300,000 in total. Above that amount, the taxable standard income for 2026 is 3.55% of the capital base, which is then taxed as capital income at 30%.

On top of gross salary, the employer pays statutory social security contributions of 31.42% for employees born between 1959 and 2002. For employees born between 2003 and 2007, the rate is reduced to 20.81% on pay up to SEK 25,000 a month, under a temporary youth reduction running from 1 April 2026 to 30 September 2027.