Sweden's tax season kicks off – 3 essential tips to smoothly navigate it
Sweden’s tax season got under way on Monday morning, with thousands immediately flocking to the Tax Agency’s website to find out whether they are owed money back or have to pay arrears.
Sweden’s annual tax declaration was sent out to everyone with a digital mailbox on Monday, and for those without it was also briefly available to view as a PDF by logging into the Tax Agency’s website.
That’s at least in theory, because a lot of people reported problems downloading their tax return.
When The Local’s editors logged in early on Monday morning, they too were greeted by an error message, saying that “a lot of people are using the service” and urging them to try again later. A couple of hours later, both were able to download the PDF without any problems, but the PDF option was removed just before noon.
"There were very few people who managed to open the PDF," Tax Agency spokesperson Maja Fröman told TT newswire. "Now we've hidden it from view until we've sent out all the income forms to digital mailboxes."
A Tax Agency spokesperson told the Dagens Nyheter daily that the technical problems were not due to any glitches in the system, but just “huge interest” from the public in their tax declarations.
Here are The Local's three top tips for navigating the tax season smoothly:
1. Be patient. Although you will receive your declaration at some point between March 4th and 8th, if you have a digital mailbox, you can only submit it from March 19th. So although you may be keen to find out as soon as possible whether you'll get money back (and how much), you probably don't actually need to know yet. There will most likely be fewer tech hiccups once traffic to the Tax Agency's site has decreased in a couple of days.
2. Don't forget your deductions. If you send it in before April 3rd and don't have to make any changes, you can get your tax rebate by mid-April. But if you're willing to wait for your rebate until June, applying for any deductions you're eligible for may be a better deal. For example, if you use public transport to get to and from work, you may be able to deduct some of your annual expenses.
3. Don't miss the deadline. Traffic to the Tax Agency's website again tends to peak around the deadlines of April 3rd and May 2nd (the final date for submitting your declaration), so it's worth filing your taxes with a few days to spare, especially if you need to call the Tax Agency to ask questions, as their phone lines also tend to be especially busy the closer you get to the deadlines.
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Sweden’s annual tax declaration was sent out to everyone with a digital mailbox on Monday, and for those without it was also briefly available to view as a PDF by logging into the Tax Agency’s website.
That’s at least in theory, because a lot of people reported problems downloading their tax return.
When The Local’s editors logged in early on Monday morning, they too were greeted by an error message, saying that “a lot of people are using the service” and urging them to try again later. A couple of hours later, both were able to download the PDF without any problems, but the PDF option was removed just before noon.
"There were very few people who managed to open the PDF," Tax Agency spokesperson Maja Fröman told TT newswire. "Now we've hidden it from view until we've sent out all the income forms to digital mailboxes."
A Tax Agency spokesperson told the Dagens Nyheter daily that the technical problems were not due to any glitches in the system, but just “huge interest” from the public in their tax declarations.
Here are The Local's three top tips for navigating the tax season smoothly:
1. Be patient. Although you will receive your declaration at some point between March 4th and 8th, if you have a digital mailbox, you can only submit it from March 19th. So although you may be keen to find out as soon as possible whether you'll get money back (and how much), you probably don't actually need to know yet. There will most likely be fewer tech hiccups once traffic to the Tax Agency's site has decreased in a couple of days.
2. Don't forget your deductions. If you send it in before April 3rd and don't have to make any changes, you can get your tax rebate by mid-April. But if you're willing to wait for your rebate until June, applying for any deductions you're eligible for may be a better deal. For example, if you use public transport to get to and from work, you may be able to deduct some of your annual expenses.
3. Don't miss the deadline. Traffic to the Tax Agency's website again tends to peak around the deadlines of April 3rd and May 2nd (the final date for submitting your declaration), so it's worth filing your taxes with a few days to spare, especially if you need to call the Tax Agency to ask questions, as their phone lines also tend to be especially busy the closer you get to the deadlines.
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