VAT in Sweden in 2026

Consultoria EHERO

5 minutos de lectura

In Sweden, VAT is called mervärdesskatt, although the Swedish Tax Agency itself almost always calls it moms. It has three rates: the standard 25 % rate and two reduced rates, 12 % and 6 %. They are set by chapter 9 of the mervärdesskattelag (2023:200), the Swedish VAT law. Note the tables before April 2026: food was taxed at 12 % and from 1 April it is 6 %, temporarily.

Rate	Percentage	Applies to
Standard (normalskattesats)	25 %	Everything that does not have a reduced rate: clothing, footwear, electronics, cosmetics and household goods, as well as spirits, wine and beer above 3.5 % abv.
Reduced (reducerad skattesats)	12 %	Hotels and campsites, restaurant and catering services, bicycle repairs, shoes, leather goods, clothing and household linen (repairs, not sales), and the sale of works of art
Reduced (reducerad skattesats)	6 %	Books, newspapers and magazines, including electronic and audiobooks; children’s drawing and coloring books, sheet music and maps; passenger transport and tickets to concerts, theatre and sporting events
Temporary reduced (tillfälligt sänkt mervärdesskatt på livsmedel)	6 %	Food and non-alcoholic beverages, bottled water, food supplements and beer up to 3.5 % abv, from 1 April 2026 to 31 December 2027; before and after, 12 %

Rates verified on 11 September 2026 against Skatteverket’s page “Momssatser och undantag från moms”, the Swedish Tax Agency (skatteverket.se).

Food drops to 6 %, but only until 2027

From 1 April 2026, food is taxed at 6 % instead of 12 %. This was introduced by law 2026:118, and the cut has an expiry date: it lasts until 31 December 2027. Another law already published, 2026:119, returns food to 12 % on 1 January 2028. If you sell food to Sweden, make a note of that date: on that day the food tax rate goes back to 12 %.

What counts as food is what Regulation (EC) 178/2002 considers food, so the 6 % rate also applies to non-alcoholic beverages, bottled water, food supplements that are not medicines, and beer up to 3.5 % abv. Spirits, wine and beer above 3.5 % abv are excluded and are taxed at 25 %.

Restaurant services do not drop: they remain at 12 %. The boundary is set by the service, not the dish: takeaway food is taxed at 6 %, while food served on the premises is taxed at 12 %. For a store that sells products, the 12 % rate is almost unused: it is the rate for accommodation, restaurant services, some repairs and works of art.

Which VAT you charge customers in Sweden if you sell from another EU country

This is the part no rate table covers, and usually the real question. The rate you charge does not depend only on the destination: it depends on how much you sell to consumers in other EU countries.

Below €10,000 a year in distance sales to the rest of the EU — added up across all countries, not country by country — you charge your own country’s VAT.
Above that €10,000 you charge the destination VAT: 25% as the standard rate in Sweden, or the reduced rate that applies to the product. You declare it through the One Stop Shop (OSS) in your own country, with no need to register in the destination country.

The threshold adds up all your B2C sales to other EU countries plus digital services, and the switch does not wait for next year: the very sale that crosses the threshold already carries the destination rate.

Selling to a business with a valid EU VAT number is a different story: the sale goes without VAT because the customer accounts for it in their own country, but you have to check that number in VIES and keep proof of the check.

How to set this up in WooCommerce

WooCommerce includes country-based rates, but it does not distinguish rates within a country by product class or monitor the threshold for you. There are three things you need to set up:

A tax class for each rate you use, assigned product by product and not at store level.
VAT number validation at checkout against VIES for business customers, so that VAT is not charged when the transaction is under reverse charge.
Control of the €10,000 threshold, because the day it is exceeded the rates change at once in all countries.

All three are covered by EHERO Woo VAT, which we built precisely because these are the three points where stores selling to the rest of the European Union break.

Selling to other EU countries from WooCommerce?

EHERO Woo VAT applies each country’s rate product by product, checks VAT numbers against VIES at checkout and keeps an eye on the €10,000 threshold for you.

See EHERO Woo VAT →

Frequently asked questions

What is the standard VAT rate in Sweden in 2026?

25 %, set out in chapter 9 of the Swedish VAT law (2023:200). Below that there are two reduced rates: 12 %, for hotels, restaurant services and some repairs, and 6 %, for books, press, passenger transport and, from 1 April 2026, food.

Has VAT on food in Sweden been reduced?

Yes: from 12 % to 6 % from 1 April 2026 until 31 December 2027. On 1 January 2028 it returns to 12 %. The reduction covers food and non-alcoholic beverages, but not restaurant services, which remain at 12 %, nor spirits, wine and beer above 3.5 % abv, which are taxed at 25 %.

I sell to Sweden from another EU country — which VAT do I charge?

Your own country’s VAT while your distance sales to the whole EU stay below €10,000 a year. Once you cross that threshold, the destination VAT (25% standard rate), declared through the One Stop Shop.

Do I have to register for VAT in Sweden?

Not if you only ship from your own country: that is what the One Stop Shop is for. You do if you store goods there — for example with Amazon’s fulfilment network — because stock held in the country creates a registration obligation regardless of how much you sell.