On January 15, the Swedish Tax Agency issued an account of a change that will come into force from February 1, 2025.
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The Swedish Tax Agency’s new mission
Starting in February, the Swedish Tax Agency pays out wage guarantees and employer contributions on wages. The county administrative boards in Sweden have previously handled the wage guarantee for companies that have been placed in bankruptcy or restructuring, but now the Tax Agency is taking over that task instead.
When they pay out a wage guarantee in connection with a company being reconstructed, the authority also pays the employer’s fees instead of the employer. If the fees are not recovered by the company itself, it is considered that they have illegally received state aid.
“When the state pays the employer contributions instead of the employer doing it, it means a saving for the employer. The Swedish wage guarantee system will in practice subsidize the fees for reconstruction companies for a period,” the Tax Agency writes on the website.
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1 February, the Swedish Tax Agency can demand money back
As of February 1, 2025, the Tax Agency will now reclaim state aid, which must be paid back so that measures such as notification and prosecution are not taken.
“The rules on state aid are found in the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, which states that state aid is prohibited if it does not meet certain pre-determined exceptions”.
The Tax Agency reports that the interpretation made by the EU Court of how the Spanish wage guarantee rules were designed resulted in the Tax Agency considering the subsidy to be illegal state aid.
“The Wage Guarantee Act is protective legislation that comes into play when a company goes bankrupt or is to be reconstructed and the employees do not receive their wages”.
In the future, this means that you who run a company, or work in one, which has gone bankrupt or is undergoing reconstruction, can get a refund from the authority. This if they pay the wage guarantee and employer contributions.
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