New laws
Most Swedish laws come into force on either January 1st or July 1st, so there are a few new changes to be aware of this month.
Sweden’s former centre-left government introduced a flight tax in 2018 to lower the impact of flights on the climate. That was abolished from July 1st, which the current right-wing government and the Sweden Democrats expect will shave 80 kronor off the price of domestic and European flights. Flights outside Europe are expected to be around 325 kronor cheaper.
The sale of laughing gas is also banned from July 1st in cases where there is a suspicion it will be used for recreational purposes. There is also a ban on selling it to minors and a limit on the amount which can be purchased at one time, set at 18 grams.
Sellers found breaking the new law risk a fine or a prison sentence of up to six months.
A new law making it easy to change legal gender came into force from July 1st. The law allows qualified doctors, psychologists, psychotherapists and healthcare counsellors (kurator) to write up a document for patients wishing to change gender, which will then be processed by the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen).
If the request to change legal gender is granted, the Tax Agency would be responsible for changing the applicant's gender in the population register, as well as altering the second-to-last number in the applicants’ personal number – women have even numbers while men have odd numbers.
Tax on beer was also cut from the beginning of July for small independent breweries – defined as breweries producing a maximum of three million litres of beer per year. The size of the tax cut is determined by the breweries’ yearly production, with a maximum cut of 50 percent.
The so-called OnlyFans law, which criminalises buying custom-made porn online, came into force on July 1st. Specifically, it is no longer legal to pay for specific content, in the style of "I want you to do X with Y", but Swedes will still be allowed to subscribe to sex workers' content, as long as their videos or messages are not tailored to a particular person.
Sweden's new high cost protection scheme for medicine came into force on July 1st. Under the old rules, you paid a maximum of 2,900 kronor for prescription medicine in a twelve month period. Under the new rules, that figure has been raised by 900 kronor to 3,800 kronor. You can read more about this change at the link below.
It became cheaper to change banks from July 1st, even if you have mortgage with a fixed interest rate. Previously, bank customers have been liable for any losses the bank incurs in expected interest rate payments as the result of changing bank, while under the new rules they will only have to pay for administrative costs incurred due to paying in advance.
Another bank-related change prevents "quick loan" companies, like Lendo or Compricer, from loaning money directly to consumers unless they register for a bank licence.
The temporary extra housing benefit for families expired on June 30th, and the tax reduction for solar panels decreased slightly from 20 to 15 percent from the start of July.
Other things happening in July
Tax: If you got your final tax bill at the beginning of April, you’ll have to pay any arrears by July 14th.
Minister salaries: Swedish government ministers are getting paid more from the start of July. Their monthly salaries have been raised 3.2 percent, (3 percent for the prime minister) according to a decision by parliament’s Ministerial Remunerations Board.
The pay review, which happens every year, means that Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson gets a 6,000 kronor pay rise, with his monthly salary going up to 204,000 kronor. The other ministers’ salaries have been raised by 5,000 kronor to 161,000 kronor.
School holidays: With schools across Sweden finishing the school year in the last two weeks of June, almost all children in Sweden are on holiday throughout July. Most adults in Sweden also take at least three weeks off in the summer, starting either in the first or second week of July.
So if you're not taking time off, be warned: it can be difficult to get any responses from people you work with, either inside your own company, or in other companies in July.
Events
If you want to really experience Swedish culture, consider visiting Dansbandsveckan, which takes place between July 13th and 19th this year. This festival of the hugely popular Dansband genre attracts nearly 100,000 visitors over seven evenings, with six dance floors and 82 dance bands.
The festival will include dance classes, a musical summer evening, a fairground, axe throwing, a car exhibition and much more.
Evening tickets are priced at 395 kronor and a weekly ticket costs 2,400 kronor.
The long-running Classic Car Week event takes place in Rättvik each year around week 31, with the exact dates this year falling between July 25th and 31st. The week will include music, events for children, a vintage market, a demolition derby, classic car parade and much more.
Wristbands for the entire event cost 1,000 kronor, although you can pay for individual events if you’d rather.
Fans of jazz should head to Ystad in the south of Sweden, where the city will be taken over by a family-friendly jazz festival between July 30th and August 3rd.
There are free and paid events, with the paid events costing between 100 and 225 kronor per person.
Stockholm Pride will take place between July 28th and August 3rd this year. You can see a programme of events on the official website.
A full ticket for all four days costs 800 kronor per person, with individual day tickets costing between 300 and 550 kronor depending on the day.
Not in Stockholm? Malmö Pride is from July 2nd-5th (Gothenburg celebrated in June). In the north of Sweden, Kalix Pride will be held from July 16th-20th and Timrå will celebrate on July 12th.
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