Public holidays
The first public holiday of 2026 is January 1st, while the second is January 6th. Here’s a full list of the rest of the year’s holidays.
New laws and rules
There are two major points during the year where a lot of new laws come into force: January 1st and July 1st.
From January 1st, the government increased the earned income tax credit (jobbskatteavdrag) lowering tax for salaried workers and pensioners, lowering the electricity tax nationwide and lowering the tax on sick pay.
The additional jobbskatteavdrag shaves about 431 kronor a month off the tax bill of someone earning 42,000 a month, and about 152 kronor a month off the tax bill of someone earning 25,000 a month.
The government also cut electricity tax on January 1st, reducing the total tax paid by about 20 percent, saving 1,000 kronor a year for an average house which is not heated by electricity (those who have electric heating stand to save more).
Savers also stand to benefit from the doubling of the tax free allowance for an ISK savings account from 150,000 to 300,000 kronor, which also came in from New Year's Day.
Prisbasbelopp set to change
The prisbasbelopp, literally ‘price base amount’, is a figure updated each year by the government on January 1st, which is meant to reflect changes in inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index.
It’s important, because it’s used by government agencies to calculate various fees or benefits, like taxes, social insurances, membership fees and the like. It affects how much sickness or parental benefits you get, as well as student allowances.
The prisbasbelopp rises by 400 kronor in 2026, to 59,200 kronor.
The figure is used to calculate your sjukpenninggrundade inkomst or SGI, which literally translates as the income used to calculate your sickness benefit. This determines the size of your payouts from the Social Insurance Agency if you get sick, if you need to look after a sick child (vab) or go on parental leave. You’ll usually get around 80 percent of your SGI, although the actual amount depends on other factors, like whether you’re on full- or part-time leave, for example.
You qualify for SGI once you earn 24 percent of a prisbasbelopp, which in 2026 is 14,208 kronor. The benefit is capped at ten prisbasbelopp (592,000 kronor) for parental leave or sick leave, and 7.5 prisbasbelopp (444,000 kronor) for vab and the ten days of leave you get when your child is born.
Anything you earn over the cap won’t be used to calculate your SGI, and you’ll get around 80 percent of the maximum amount instead.
Re-emigration grants come in
From January 1st, foreign citizens living in Sweden who choose to return to their home countries are eligible for grants of 350,000 kronor, increasing the current grant by 3,400 percent.
Under the new proposal, families can get a maximum of 600,000 kronor and under-age children 25,000 kronor.
The scheme is only available to refugees, quota refugees, people in need of subsidiary protection, people with residence on the grounds of exceptionally distressing circumstances, or family of these groups.
Laws on stricter citizenship and work permit hike could go before parliament
Parliament was initially tabled to vote on a new law hiking the minimum salary for a work permit in November, but so far all the government has done is say that the law, which will hike the salary threshold to 90 percent of the median wage, has been written.
If the drafting of the final law is indeed complete (the Council on Legislation had some serious objections), then it should go before parliament and get passed at some point in January, coming into force in June.
A law increasing the residency period to be eligible for citizenship from five to eight years is also long overdue. If a draft version of the law, which will also bring in language and civics tests, is sent to the Council on Legislation in early January, there is still a chance it could be voted through before the end of the month.
Pension statements will start to be sent out
The pensions agency starts sending out pension statements in January, although most people won’t receive them until February or March. You don’t need to do anything in response to them – it’s just a statement to keep you up to date – but if you want to plan your pension, there are a few tricks.
Awards season
Awards season will kick off with Swedish Radio’s P3 Guld music awards taking place at Cirkus in Stockholm on the 16th.
Guldbaggegalan, Sweden’s version of the Oscars, will be held at Cirkus in Stockholm on January 19th, and Idrottsgalan – the Swedish Sport Awards – will be held at the Avicii Arena in Stockholm a few days later on January 21st.
Gothenburg Film Festival will also take place in January, starting on the 23rd and ending on February 1st.
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