Import VAT and Duty in Sweden
Swedish VAT Rates on Imports
Sweden is a full EU member state inside the EU VAT area, so imports carry Swedish VAT at Swedish rates. The tax is mervärdesskatt, usually shortened to MOMS, and it is governed by the Mervärdesskattelagen (2023:200), which replaced the 1994 Act.
| Rate | Applies to |
|---|---|
| 25% | Standard rate — Tullverket states VAT amounts to 25% for most goods |
| 12% | Works of art, collectors' items and antiques |
| 6% | Foodstuffs, books and newspapers |
Those three are the rates Tullverket publishes for imports. The applicable rate follows the classification, and a consignment containing goods at different rates must be split by line — declaring the whole shipment at one rate either overpays or under-declares. Where the reduced bands are unclear for a particular product, confirm with Tullverket or Skatteverket rather than assuming: the rate on import is tied to the treatment of the same goods in the domestic market.
The VAT Taxable Amount
Tullverket sets out the taxable amount as the sum of three components, and the third one is where estimates go wrong.
| Component | Treatment in the Swedish VAT base |
|---|---|
| Customs value of the goods | Included |
| Any customs duties and state taxes other than VAT | Included |
| Additional costs such as shipping and insurance up to the place of destination in the EU | Included — and Tullverket states that information on additional costs is not provided by Swedish Customs |
Read that parenthetical carefully. The add-back of onward shipping and insurance to the EU place of destination is the declarant's own figure to compute and substantiate. Swedish Customs will not supply it, will not check it for you at the point of declaration, and will not warn you that it is missing. Shippers who build MOMS on the customs value alone under-declare, and the shortfall surfaces later as an assessment.
Worked Example
A shipment of consumer electronics from Shenzhen to Stockholm, arriving at Gothenburg and moving inland by rail. Figures are illustrative only.
| Step | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Invoice value of goods | EUR 10,000 | Transaction value |
| Freight and insurance to the EU frontier | EUR 1,200 | Gives a customs value of EUR 11,200 |
| Customs duty at 4% under the Tulltaxan code | EUR 448 | Indicative electronics rate; the binding rate comes from the ten-digit code |
| Shipping and insurance to the EU place of destination | EUR 300 | The add-back Tullverket does not supply — yours to compute |
| VAT taxable amount | EUR 11,948 | Customs value plus duty plus the onward shipping and insurance |
| Swedish import VAT at 25% | EUR 2,987 | Assessed on the full taxable amount |
Note that duty sits inside the VAT base, so the two compound: a duty rate error produces a VAT error as well. That is why the ten-digit commodity code matters more than any other single field.
Who You Account To
This is the part of Swedish import VAT that catches most importers out, and it is worth stating in full.
| Situation | Who you account to | How |
|---|---|---|
| Registered for Swedish VAT | Skatteverket (Tax Agency) | Reported on the periodic VAT return; not paid at the border. Amounts compiled from Tullverket's VAT Reporting online service, the customs invoice, or the import declarations. |
| Not registered for Swedish VAT | Tullverket (Swedish Customs) | Paid at clearance, before the goods are released. |
For registered businesses, the customs invoice is the formal basis for the amounts Swedish Customs has set, and it is issued to whoever is named as payer in the import declaration. If a customs representative is responsible for payment, the representative receives it. Critically, the date of issue on the customs invoice determines the VAT period in which the amount must be reported — not the arrival date, and not the date you collected the paperwork.
Non-EU businesses seeking Swedish VAT registration should also factor in the fiscal representative (skatteombud) requirement, under which a representative established in Sweden must be appointed and carries joint and several liability. Confirm the current position with Skatteverket; it is a structural commitment rather than a formality.
Customs Duty Under Tulltaxan
Sweden applies the EU Common Customs Tariff, accessed through Tulltaxan, the Swedish edition of TARIC. Commodity codes run to ten digits, and Sweden additionally uses national supplementary codes for certain goods where the EU code alone is not sufficient.
Tullverket's own guidance indicates duty rates of 0–20% depending on the commodity, assessed on the customs value, which includes the invoice amount plus transport to the EU border. There is no China–EU free trade agreement, so Chinese-origin goods are normally assessed at MFN rates. Note also that not every commodity is assessed on value: some are assessed on weight or quantity, using national measurement-unit qualifiers published by Tullverket.
| Category | Indicative EU MFN duty range |
|---|---|
| Consumer electronics and components | roughly 0–6% |
| Machinery and mechanical appliances | roughly 0–3.7% |
| Textiles and apparel | roughly 8–12% |
| Footwear | roughly 8–17% |
| Furniture | roughly 0–2.7% |
| Toys | roughly 0–4.5% |
These are indicative planning ranges only, derived from the structure of the EU MFN tariff. The binding rate always comes from the ten-digit commodity code in Tulltaxan. Never budget from a category average.
Low-Value Consignments: Three Rules, Not One
| Rule | Value | What it actually does |
|---|---|---|
| EU VAT de-minimis | Abolished 1 July 2021 | No value is exempt from VAT. The old EUR 22 relief no longer exists anywhere in the EU. |
| Duty relief threshold | EUR 150 customs value | Consignments at or below EUR 150 may be relieved of customs duty. VAT still applies in full. |
| Temporary per-item duty | EUR 3 per item | From 1 July 2026, on consignments of EUR 150 or less, running until the EU Customs Data Hub goes live. |
For the rules applying from 1 July 2026, Tullverket fixes the established Swedish amount for EUR 150 at SEK 1,655.30. Use that figure on Swedish declarations rather than converting at the day's rate yourself.
The EUR 3 charge is assessed per item — goods sharing the same tariff classification, description and, where relevant, origin — and in practice operates per declaration line. Five T-shirts in one parcel is EUR 3; a T-shirt and a watch is EUR 6. It is payable by the declarant, not the consumer, and applies regardless of which VAT scheme is used. Classification granularity therefore has a direct cost consequence: an H7 declaration needs six-digit HS codes, an H6 needs eight-digit CN codes and an H1 needs full ten-digit TARIC. Coarser data means more lines, and more lines means more EUR 3 charges.
Budgeting Checklist
- Classify every product line to ten digits in Tulltaxan before you quote, and check for national supplementary codes.
- Confirm which authority you account to — Skatteverket if registered for Swedish VAT, Tullverket if not.
- Build MOMS on the full taxable amount: customs value, plus non-VAT duties and state taxes, plus shipping and insurance to the EU place of destination.
- Remember that Tullverket does not supply the additional-costs figure — compute and substantiate it yourself.
- Reconcile customs invoices to VAT periods; the date of issue determines the reporting period.
- Use SEK 1,655.30 as the Swedish equivalent of EUR 150 for the rules from 1 July 2026.
- Split mixed-rate consignments by line rather than declaring the whole shipment at one rate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Swedish import VAT, known as mervärdesskatt or MOMS, is 25 percent for most goods. Tullverket also publishes reduced rates of 12 percent for works of art, collectors' items and antiques, and 6 percent for foodstuffs, books and newspapers. The applicable rate follows the classification.
The taxable amount is the customs value of the goods, plus any customs duties and state taxes other than VAT, plus additional costs such as shipping and insurance up to the place of destination in the EU. Tullverket states that information on those additional costs is not provided by Swedish Customs, so the declarant must compute and substantiate the figure.
It depends on registration. Tullverket states that businesses registered for VAT report import VAT to Skatteverket on the periodic VAT return, while businesses not registered for VAT pay Tullverket at clearance. For a registered business the customs invoice date of issue determines the reporting period.
EUR 150 is a customs duty relief threshold, not a VAT threshold. Consignments at or below EUR 150 may be relieved of customs duty, but VAT applies at every value because the EUR 22 relief was abolished EU-wide on 1 July 2021. For the rules from 1 July 2026, Tullverket fixes the Swedish amount at SEK 1,655.30.
From 1 July 2026 a temporary duty of EUR 3 per item applies to consignments of EUR 150 or less, running until the EU Customs Data Hub goes live. An item is goods sharing the same classification, description and where relevant origin, applied in practice per declaration line: five T-shirts is EUR 3, a T-shirt and a watch is EUR 6.