14. Taxes, duties and fees
Content
Sweden grants exemptions from taxes, duties and fees in accordance with the Vienna Conventions. Moreover, diplomatic missions,diplomatic agents, career consular posts, career consuls and offices of certain international organisations may claim a refund of the value-added tax and excise duties paid on certain goods and services.
Information on exemption from VAT and other taxes is provided in this chapter.
Duty-free imports (general) are described in Chapter 15. VAT-free purchases and duty-free imports of motor vehicles are described in Chapter 16.
14.1 Value added tax (VAT) and excise duties
Diplomatic missions, diplomatic agents, career consular posts, career consuls and offices and certain staff at certain international organisations may claim a refund of the value-added tax and excise duties paid on certain goods and services as listed below, provided that these were purchased in Sweden and that a refund request is duly submitted under the Value Added Tax Act (1994:200) and the Ordinance on repayment of value added tax and certain excise duties to relief organisations, foreign missions and others (1994:224).
Refund requests must be submitted directly to the Swedish Tax Agency (not to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs).
Send the requests for refund to:
Skatteverket
771 83 Ludvika
For refunds for official use by:
- diplomatic Missions
- career consulates
- international organisations mentioned in the Annex to the Act on Immunity and Privileges in Certain Cases (1976:661)
Fill in application form: SKV 5648 - external website,
Please consult the following guidelines, which contain information regarding the procedure for refund and a non-exhaustive list of examples of purchases qualifying/not qualifying for a refund.
Guidelines for Diplomatic Missions, Career Consulates and International Organisations
For refunds for personal use by:
- diplomatic agents
- career consuls
- chief representatives or staff of international organisations seated in Sweden if the right of refund follows from the agreement with the Swedish Government
Fill in application form: SKV 5650 - external website,
Please consult the following guidelines, which contain information regarding the procedure for refund and a non-exhaustive list of examples of purchases qualifying/not qualifying for a refund.
Guidelines for Diplomatic Agents, Career Consuls and Representatives of International Organisations
Please note that for refunds for personal use by heads of mission, fill in application form SKV 5650. For refunds on behalf of the residence, in its capacity as the premises of the mission, please use application form SKV 5648. The Swedish Tax Agency will not reimburse VAT or excise duties for purchases made by heads of missions for goods or services for personal use if these requests are made on the application form intended for the mission.
Tax-free purchases from other EU countries are possible if they would have entitled the purchaser to a VAT refund had they been made in Sweden. The same criteria – regarding goods that qualify for a refund and the minimum amounts that apply for purchases in Sweden – also apply to purchases from other EU countries.
The European Union VAT and excise duty exemption certificate is required for the supplier to be able to deliver goods exempt from VAT and excise duties.
14.2 Charges or fees for specific services
Examples of charges levied for specific services rendered, from which the sending State and diplomatic agents are not exempt: fees for weapon licenses, charges and rates levied by local authorities in respect of matters such as road improvements, street lighting, building permits, etc.
14.3 Airport fees
No airport fees are levied in Sweden with regard to official state aircraft on official flights. Nor will any fees be levied if a civilian aircraft is used exclusively for official visits by heads of State, members of a royal family or members of governments, or if a separate aircraft is used by the delegation accompanying any of the said dignitaries.
14.4 Public services fee
Diplomatic agents, members of the administrative and technical staff, career consuls and career consular employees are not required to pay public service fee unless they are Swedish nationals or permanently reside in Sweden.
14.5 Real estate taxes and duties
Mission premises and residences are exempt from stamp duty. In the absence of bilateral or multilateral agreements, buildings other than the residence or the chancery are not exempt from property tax and stamp duty.
14.6 Property charge and property tax
The owner of a property in Sweden is obliged to pay property tax. Premises which are used for the functions of a diplomatic mission or as residence of a head of mission are exempted from this rule.
Consequently, missions and their staff members are obliged to pay property tax for any properties they own that are not used for the functions of a diplomatic mission or as a residence. This rule applies to embassies and consulates.
The Swedish Tax Agency provides a preprinted ("income tax return") form to the property owner in April each year.
The pre-printed amount is the property´s assessed value and the pre-printed percentage indicates how much tax is to be paid. After receiving this form, the property owner must verify the information and submit a signed version to the Swedish Tax Agency. If the property has been sold, this must be declared in the same form.
In accordance with relevant Swedish regulations, the amount to be paid will be labelled either as a property charge or property tax.
The owner of a property in Sweden is obliged to pay property tax. Premises used for the purposes of a diplomatic mission or as the residence of a head of mission are exempted from this rule.
However, the exemption from taxation does not apply when the property tax is to be paid by the landlord entering into an agreement with the sending State or the head of mission (Article 23(2) Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, Article 32(2) Vienna Convention on Consular Relations).
Regardless of whether the property tax is specified separately in the rental agreement or in another document, the landlord must still pay the property tax. Consequently, no reimbursement can be made for an amount that represents compensation for property tax to the owner of the property.
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Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Visiting address Gustav Adolfs torg 1
Address 103 39 STOCKHOLM
email to Protocol Department
