Swedish VAT and Tax on invoices

Swedish VAT and Tax when you order from me

I am a Swedish translator based in Sweden. My company is registered in Sweden which is part of the European Union (EU). There are a lot of complicated tax rules that will apply depending on who you are and from where you are buying services from me. If you can speak Swedish then I have a special site called "momsens.se" that will teach you everything you need to know about the Swedish Tax system from a small business owner perspective. For my English visitors, and hopefully customers, if I don't scare you away with this page.. I have written a short and to the point tax-guide of what you need to know here. I will make it simple for you with a little explaining.

Are you a customer from an EU country?

If Yes, then are you buying translations from me from your business or privately?

Are you a company?

-Then I will not add any Tax on the invoice to you, but you need to state your VAT number for your company and tell me in which country your company is registered. The invoice will be marked with a motivation to why I invoice without VAT. This sentence tells you (the customer) that your company must self-assess VAT (calculate VAT) on the invoice and report it to your local Tax Authority.

I will add one of these lines to your invoice:

Reverse charge, article 9 (2) (e), 6th VAT-directive.

General rule for services, article 44 and 196 Council Directive 2006/112/EC (Reverse charge).

Are you a private person?

-Then I must add taxes on the invoice to you. If the rate I will add for the service is 25% Swedish VAT on top of the stated price, then that implies an end price for you that changes from the listed price $0.05 to $0.625/word instead.

Are you a customer from the rest of the world?

Are you a company?

-Then I will not add VAT on the invoice. I will mark the invoice with a motivation that explains why I invoice without VAT to you.

I will add one of these lines to your invoice:

Outside-Community supply, article 9 (2) (e), 6th VAT-directive.
General rule for services, article 44 and 196 Council Directive 2006/112/EC.

Are you a private person?

-Then I would normally add VAT, but translations are an exception from the general rule. Translations are considered to be consumed at the place of the buyer. Hence I will not add VAT on the invoice to you if you are a private person from a country outside EU.

Swedish Tax system and Tax rates

Sweden has a very complex and complicated system for VAT rules when it comes to literature, article writing, voice-overs and translation. You can read more about the Swedish VAT and Tax system here. Depending on the type of the material, its content and how it is distributed and in which format it is saved will affect the VAT rate for the service.

If you are a customer that will be charged VAT according to the rules stated above, this will determine which rate it will be:

I will charge 25% on translation for:

Non-literature translation, i.e information material, brochures etc.
Marketing texts, copywriting
Voiceover (if distributed to you in digital format like mp3)
Transcribing of audio/video to text

I will charge 6% on translation for:

Translation of "literature texts"
Novel, short story
Voiceover (if I distribute it on CD-ROM/DVD/Blu-Ray and post it to you)
Article writing (if the content is less than 50% pictures else 25% VAT)

The main aim with this part of the Swedish VAT system is to promote and subsidise printed literature like books, newspapers and audiobooks on CD. But the technological developments have run far ahead of the VAT legislation which makes it difficult to determine which rate should apply given different circumstances, It's obviously a paradox that if I distribute it as a digital file it is 25% but if I burn a CD and post it as a physical copy the VAT rate changes to 6%. But we will have to live with this confusion for the time being. Thanks for understanding. I did not write the Swedish tax laws :)

Read this information in Swedish

Further information on Taxes and VAT from the Swedish Tax Authorities