Social security contributions for sole traders
If you are a sole trader, you must pay self-employed social security contributions. These social security contributions are payable on income from active business activities. Special payroll tax is paid on income from passive business activities.
Reduction of social security contributions
If you pay the full amount of your social security contributions, you are entitled to a reduction of 7.5% of income up to SEK 200,000 if you have more than SEK 40,000 in income from your business. The maximum reduction is SEK 15,000.
Standard deduction
For sole traders, social security contributions and special payroll tax are deductible in your tax return. You can therefore make a standard deduction for calculated social security contributions in the self-employed tax return annex (NE). You will then find out your exact social security contributions for the year in your final tax assessment. In the next year's tax return, you must reverse the deduction to taxation and offset it against contributions charged to you for the same tax year as stated in your final tax assessment notice.
Report change in income
If, during the year, you discover that your business's net profit will be higher or lower than you initially declared, you should notify the Swedish Tax Agency of the change. Otherwise, you risk having to pay tax arrears, or paying too much tax during the year, which you will then get back when your preliminary tax is reconciled with your final tax. You make a change by submitting a preliminary income tax return via the preliminary income tax return e-service on the Swedish Tax Agency's website.
Read about and submit a preliminary income tax return at the Swedish Tax Agency (in Swedish)
Choose number of qualifying days
You can choose how many qualifying days you want to have. You can increase or decrease the number of qualifying days, and thereby influence your social security contributions. You can choose 1, 7, 14, 30, 60 or 90 qualifying days.
Qualifying days and self-employed social security contributions 2024
The self-employed contribution to health insurance for income year 2024 is calculated using the following percentages on income up to 10 times the price base amount at the beginning of the year:
- For insured with a qualifying period of 1 day: 3.77%
- For insured with a qualifying period of 7 days: 3.64%
- For insured with a qualifying period of 14 days: 3.53%
- For insured with a qualifying period of 30 days: 3.33%
- For insured with a qualifying period of 60 days: 3.08%
- For insured with a qualifying period of 90 days: 2.91%
For income over 10 times the price base amount, the percentage 3.64 is applied pursuant to Chapter 3, Section 17 of the Social Security Contributions Act.