Swedish Holding Companies – a big surprise!
Introduction
Sweden has a wide spread reputation for being a high tax country.
This reputation gives a fairly true picture for individuals but not for
companies.
The tax rate for companies is 28 % in Sweden, which is rather low in
an international comparison. There are also ways of keeping funds
untaxed within a company for long periods of time which are uncommon
internationally. It is true that as soon as profits leave a company as
salaries to employees or dividends to shareholders who are residents of
Sweden, the taxes incurred will confirm the country’s reputation. This
is in line with the policy of the Swedish social democratic party,
which has been in government since decades but for a few years. It
wants to encourage Swedish owners of companies to let profits
accumulate in their companies. Thus, as long as profits stay in the
company or if the dividends are distributed to individuals or companies
which are resident outside of Sweden, the tax impact will often be very
interesting and surprise international tax planners.
