The Swedish Government has introduced a different range of measures to mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 virus. Below is a short summary of measures taken.

  • Liquidity reinforcement via tax accounts:
    Companies can defer payment of employers' social security contributions, preliminary tax on salaries and value added tax that are reported monthly or quarterly. The payment respite covers tax payments for 3 months and is to be granted for up to 12 months. An extension fee, which is calculated at 0.2% on the granted extension amount will be charged after 6 months (changed from every calendar month). Additionally, a non-deductible interest cost at a rate of 1.25% will be charged. The extension fee must be paid no later than the date on which the deferred amount is to be paid.

    The deferral period is extended and will be appliable 2021 for all companies who have been granted a deferral during 2020.
  • Short-time work allowance:
    Support for short-time working (also known as short-time layoffs) is regulated in the Act on short-time working (Sw: Lag (2013:948) om stöd vid korttidsarbete). Short-time working means that employers can reduce their employees' working hours and receive financial support from the central government to compensate for a significant part of the costs for retaining the employee.

    The Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth (Sw: "Tillväxtverket") is the administering authority for the short time working scheme.

    The Government has announced that the support will be extended up to seven months and that the support will be increased during the period January to March 2021. Companies are not entitled to the support if the company during the support period, the two months before the support period and six months after the support period executes a decision on distribution of dividends. Tillväxtverket has also announced that group contributions will not be an obstacle for short-term support being granted.
  • Reduced fixed rents:
    The proposed reintroduced support means that landlords who reduce the fixed rent for tenants during the period 1 January to 31 March 2021 in certain vulnerable industries will be able to apply for support to compensate for part of the reduction. The compensation is proposed to be given at 50 % of the reduced fixed rent.
  • Adjustment support (for companies that have to adapt their business due to COVID-19):
    Support for readjustment based on loss of turnover is an additional support aimed at companies to adapt businesses that has lost large parts of their turnover as a result of COVID-19. The size of the support will depend on how large a loss of turnover a business has had. To be eligible for the support, the business must have had a turnover of at least SEK 250 000 during the past financial year and a loss of turnover of at least 30 %. The support is given as a proportion of the company's fixed costs, depending on the company's percentage turnover loss (however a maximum of 70 % of the total fixed costs and not more than 30 MSEK for the period August 2020-February 2021).

    Further, non-profit organizations can now also apply for the adjustment support.
  • Shutdown support:
    Through the support, companies that have lost all their turnover during a period due to closure of business will be able to get 100 % of their fixed costs reimbursed, up to a maximum of SEK 75 million per company and month. The support is intended for companies that have been prevented from conducting their business as a result of closure decisions issued (because of the new Pandemic Act in Sweden) and lost at least 30 % of the turnover.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.