It’s time to review your income and expenses – and find deductions to reduce your taxes as much as possible.
One common mistake many people make is forgetting to include interest expenses on loans held in foreign banks. These interests can also be eligible for deductions.
Another thing to consider is that interest expenses can be divided between spouses for maximum deduction. This can be especially important in times like these when we have had high mortgage rates. For interest up to 100,000 SEK per person, you can deduct 30%. Anything over 100,000 SEK can only be deducted at 21%. If you want to make changes to the distribution, you must do it yourself. And the deduction for interest still applies to all types of loans, not just mortgages. But the rules for personal loans will be coming.
The same goes for home improvement and household services deductions. It can also be a good idea to split the deduction between spouses. But remember that you can never get a larger deduction than what you have paid in taxes.
Most money to save – home sales
When it comes to business trips, expenses must exceed 11,000 SEK before deductions can be made. And to deduct for the car, you must save at least two hours a day by using it. The mileage allowance is 25 SEK per mile.
The biggest tax reduction often goes to those who have sold their home or vacation home. In addition to sales costs, you can deduct renovation and improvement expenses. The tax on your profit is 22%. You can defer some of the tax if you buy something new. And since there is no longer any tax on the deferral, it is cost-free for you.
Losses cannot be saved
If you have sold stocks and funds in a regular account, the transactions need to be declared on a K4 form. Capital gains are taxed at 30%. You can also offset gains and losses against each other in the same securities category.
If you have more losses than gains, you can offset them against other capital income, such as interest or funds – but only up to 70%.
You cannot save losses for next year – so use them while you can.
If you do not know what you paid for the stocks, for example, if you received them as a gift or inherited them, you can use the flat-rate method. Then you declare 20% of the sales value as the acquisition cost. If you have stocks that have increased by more than 400%, it may also be profitable to use the flat-rate method.
For losses on unlisted stocks, you can only deduct 5/6 of the loss. Likewise, 5/6 of the profit is taxed at 30% – thus an effective tax of 25%.
Do not forget that transactions with cryptocurrencies also need to be declared, even if you have exchanged between different cryptocurrencies. This is done in section D of the K4 form.
If you have an ISK, you can relax
But most people now save through an Investment Savings Account (ISK), and then you do not need to do anything in the declaration. The ISK account is subject to a standard tax four times a year, regardless of how the assets perform. From this year, the first 150,000 SEK are also tax-free, and from next year, the tax-free amount is 300,000 SEK per person. The same applies to capital insurance.
Private pension savings are not deductible if you have an employer who pays occupational pension. But if the employer does not do that or if you are self-employed, you can deduct up to 35% of your salary – maximum 573,000 SEK.
Go through your declaration and your transactions calmly. If you have no changes and approve the declaration by April 2, you can receive your tax refund as early as April. Paper declarations will begin to be sent out in mid-March, and everyone should have received their declaration by April 15.
Dates to keep in mind:
March 18 – You can start declaring
April 2 – Last day to approve the declaration without changes to get the tax refund early
April 8-11 – First tax notices and any refunds
May 2 – Last day to declare
May 5 – Last day to pay remaining tax under 30,000 SEK
June 2-6 – Next round of final tax notices and refunds