Swedish Aviation Tax

Since 1 April 2018, airlines and business air charter companies with flights from Sweden must declare and pay Swedish Aviation Tax. The law giving birth to this new tax on commercial air transport (Lag 2017:1200 om skatt på flygresor) was adopted on 30 November 2017.

What is Swedish Aviation Tax?

Swedish Aviation Tax is levied on commercial flights carrying passengers and departing from a Swedish airport. It only applies to larger aircraft as aircraft with a seating capacity of 10 or less are exempt.

The tax rate depends on the passenger’s final destination. Flights to countries listed under Appendix 1 of the Aviation Tax Act (*) pay 76 SEK per passenger. Passengers travelling to countries listed under Appendix 2 (**) are charged 315 SEK. For destination countries neither listed in Appendix 1 or 2 of the Aviation Tax Act, the tax rate amounts to 504 SEK per chargeable passenger.

Who is liable for Swedish Aviation Tax?

The Swedish Aviation Tax Act applies to aircraft operators that perform commercial flights from Sweden using aircraft with a certified capacity of more than 10 seats. Aircraft with a seating capacity of 10 or less are exempt, as well as aircraft used for private, non-commercial transportation.

Several other flight and passenger exemptions apply. Amongst them the exemption of children under the age of two, flight crew on active duty, flights following a tech stop and flights returning to the departure airport due to bad weather, mechanical failure or any other unforeseen events.

Obligations under the Swedish Aviation Tax scheme

Foreign airlines and business air charter operators flying to Sweden must:

• apply for a Swedish organization number
• register for aviation tax
• appoint a Swedish representative recognized by the Swedish tax agency Skatteverket (such as FCC Aviation) to be able to submit tax declarations online
• submit monthly *** tax declarations and make payment of tax by the 12th day following the month to which the tax return pertains (IMPORTANT NOTE - Tax cannot be declared or paid without prior registration) ****

• keep records and accounts for a minimum of 7 years.

* Appendix 1 Countries: Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Kosovo, Croatia, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Switzerland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, UK, Sweden, Czech Republic, Turkey, Germany, Ukraine, Hungary and Vatican City

** Appendix 2 Countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ethiopia, United Arab Emirates, Gambia, Georgia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Yemen, Jordan, Canada, Cape Verde, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Chad, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, United States and Uzbekistan

*** Aircraft operators whose annual tax liability is less than 50,000 SEK may apply for annual accounting.

**** Aircraft operators registered for VAT in Sweden must submit the tax return and payment by the 12th day of the second month following the monthly reporting period provided their annual revenue basis for VAT does not exceed 40 Mkr. Aircraft operators above the 40Mkr threshold must declare and pay tax by the 26th day following the month to which the tax return pertains.