-
Business consulting services
Our business consulting services can help you improve your operational performance and productivity, adding value throughout your growth life cycle.
-
Business process solutions
We can help you identify, understand and manage potential risks to safeguard your business and comply with regulatory requirements.
-
Business risk services
The relationship between a company and its auditor has changed. Organisations must understand and manage risk and seek an appropriate balance between risk and opportunities.
-
Cybersecurity
As organisations become increasingly dependent on digital technology, the opportunities for cyber criminals continue to grow.
-
Forensic and investigation services
At Grant Thornton, we have a wealth of knowledge in forensic services and can support you with issues such as dispute resolution, fraud and insurance claims.
-
Mergers and acquisitions
Globalisation and company growth ambitions are driving an increase in M&A activity worldwide. We work with entrepreneurial businesses in the mid-market to help them assess the true commercial potential of their planned acquisition and understand how the purchase might serve their longer- term strategic goals.
-
Recovery and reorganisation
Workable solutions to maximise your value and deliver sustainable recovery
-
Transactional advisory services
We can support you throughout the transaction process – helping achieve the best possible outcome at the point of the transaction and in the longer term.
-
Valuations
We provide a wide range of services to recovery and reorganisation professionals, companies and their stakeholders.
-
IFRS
The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are a set of global accounting standards developed by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) for the preparation of public company financial statements. At Grant Thornton, our IFRS advisers can help you navigate the complexity of financial reporting from IFRS 1 to IFRS 17 and IAS 1 to IAS 41.
-
Audit quality monitoring
Having a robust process of quality control is one of the most effective ways to guarantee we deliver high-quality services to our clients.
-
Global audit technology
We apply our global audit methodology through an integrated set of software tools known as the Voyager suite.
-
Corporate and business tax
Our trusted teams can prepare corporate tax files and ruling requests, support you with deferrals, accounting procedures and legitimate tax benefits.
-
Direct international tax
Our teams have in-depth knowledge of the relationship between domestic and international tax laws.
-
Global mobility services
Through our global organisation of member firms, we support both companies and individuals, providing insightful solutions to minimise the tax burden for both parties.
-
Indirect international tax
Using our finely tuned local knowledge, teams from our global organisation of member firms help you understand and comply with often complex and time-consuming regulations.
-
Innovation and investment incentives
Dynamic businesses must continually innovate to maintain competitiveness, evolve and grow. Valuable tax reliefs are available to support innovative activities, irrespective of your tax profile.
-
Private client services
Our solutions include dealing with emigration and tax mitigation on the income and capital growth of overseas assets.
-
Transfer pricing
The laws surrounding transfer pricing are becoming ever more complex, as tax affairs of multinational companies are facing scrutiny from media, regulators and the public
-
Tax policy
Tax policies are constantly evolving and there are a number of complex changes on the horizon that could significantly affect your business.
-
Outsourcing Changes to the Outsourcing legislation, specifically when offshoringSignificant changes to the dynamic of the financial services sector in recent years have shifted the paradigms in how we work. The increased digitisation of the workforce, changes in business models, globalisation, and remote working capabilities have led to a new approach to the delivery of services.
-
Asset management Inflation and tax planningThe recent onset of rapid inflation is an unwelcome development that is having a widespread impact on US businesses and tax planning.
A proposal to introduce the term Economic Employer in Swedish domestic tax legislation has been presented to the Swedish Parliament. Should the draft proposal be accepted the possibilities to obtain tax exemption in Sweden under the 183-day rule will be reduced. The proposed changes will have significant impact on both employers and employees and are expected to be in force earliest as from 1 July 2019.
Current legislation
Under current Swedish legislation employment income from a foreign employer to an employee for work carried out in Sweden may be exempted from employee income tax in Sweden under the so called 183 day-rule. The rule is also included in most of the bilateral income tax treaties that Sweden has.
For the domestic 183 day-rule to be applicable the following three criteria must be met:
- The employee’s stay in Sweden may not exceed 183 days during a twelve-month period.
- The employment income is paid out by an employer without permanent establishment in Sweden, or on their behalf.
- The cost for the employment income is not borne by a permanent establishment the employer has in Sweden.
The Swedish Government´s proposal
The Swedish Government proposes that an employee who is non-resident in Sweden for tax purposes and working temporarily in Sweden for a foreign employer with no permanent establishment in Sweden, will be liable to pay income taxes in Sweden as from day one.
The determining factor for if the employee is liable to pay taxes in Sweden is if the economic employer is a Swedish entity which benefits ultimately from the employee’s work. This way to determine tax liability is more commonly used internationally, ie substance over form than the concept of formal employer which is used in Sweden today.
If the employee is subject to Swedish tax under the new rules, the foreign (formal) employer shall register for employer reporting purposes in Sweden, withhold employee preliminary tax and file a monthly payroll return.
The foreign employer should also submit relevant information to the Swedish Tax Agency (STA) for the assessment of the company’s Swedish tax liability, if any.
The foreign employer will need to obtain a tax identification number (TIN) and a CIT bill (Sw: F-skattsedel) to verify that the Swedish Tax Agency have made an assessment of the foreign entity’s tax status in Sweden. Without the CIT bill, the Swedish customer to the foreign entity will have to withhold 30% from the invoice amount.
Exemptions for intra-group situations
Since the initial proposal a complementary proposal has been filed suggesting exemptions for intra-group situations (as defined in legislation) if the work for an employee does not exceed five consecutive days at a time and 30 days in total per year.
Consequences of the changes
The proposed legislative changes will have substantial impact on foreign employers as well as their employees, both increased cost as well as an increased administrative burden for foreign companies.
The changes will require certain competence in the Swedish tax system, foremost considering that the foreign employer must register with the STA as a foreign employer, request a CIT bill, manage employee tax withholdings and file a monthly payroll return on an individual level.
The foreign employee, who is taxed in Sweden on income paid out from the home country, may face a cash-flow problem due to the withholding both in Sweden and in the home country. The employee may also need assistance with the home country tax return to claim tax relief for the taxes paid in Sweden.
What will happen next?
The intention was that the legislative changes should be effective from 1 January 2019. However, due to the unclear political situation with no new Government the Parliament’s vote on the proposal has been postponed. At the earliest the changes may come into force as from 1 July 2019 but more likely as from 1 January 2020.
Do you want to know more?
We hope you found this summary useful. If you would like to discuss any of the areas raised in this article please contact Aino Askegård Andrésen or Margita Beijer, Grant Thornton Sweden.