Registration of Company in Sweden - Public

Sweden (the Kingdom of Sweden) is situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The state shares borders with Norway in the west and with Finland in the northeast.

The area of Sweden is about 450 km2.

The capital is Stockholm.

The national currency is the Swedish krona.

The population of the state is approximately 9 million people.

The official language is Swedish. The other languages (in particular Lappish) are spoken in the north of the country. English is studied in Sweden since the age of nine as the first foreign language.

Since the last century and up to this day, Sweden is regarded as neutral and non-belligerent country. This facts led to the prosperity of the state and helped the country to create the image of reliable partner in the world arena.

The stable economy of Sweden is focused mainly on international trade. The jurisdiction is also attractive for investors developing new markets. The business in Sweden is characterized by constant growth and development.

It is also necessary to take into account the point of view of the Swedes themselves, who claim that their home country is the best place for doing business or establishing representative office of international company. Today, non-residents can buy and sell company in Sweden making unlimited investments and not paying fees.

In order to make deal, the parties conclude ordinary contract. At the same time, the lowest tax in Western Europe for legal entities is in Sweden. And with the competent applying of the laws of the country, it is even possible to reduce the existing tax burden for the company in Sweden.

The most popular spheres for the operation of foreign companies are the following:

- IT sphere;
- design services (especially 3D-graphics);
- development of computer games;
- transportation;
- trade;
- letting real estate.

Forms of doing business in Sweden

Foreign person can register company in Sweden or buy ready-made company in Sweden.

There are only two forms of companies that foreigners can register in this jurisdiction:

- Privat Aktiebolag (limited liability company);

- Publikt Aktiebolag (public joint stock company).

Company and business formation in Sweden. Main provisions.

• Having decided upon the form of the company, it is necessary to prepare its name. Given that plagiarism is severely punished in Sweden, the name should be unique and not similar to other names of already registered companies.
• The name should not mislead the consumer of the goods produced by the company, or your potential partners.
• The name of the company shall be registered with the Swedish Service for business registration.
• The company in Sweden submits such documents to the commercial register as:
  - Application for registration (Registreringsanmalan);
  - Draft Articles of Association;
  - Memorandum of Establishment (Stiftelseurkund);
  - Protocol on allocation of shares/stakes among the founders of the company (Protokoll fran konstituerande bolagsstamma);
  - confirmation of the deposit of authorized capital (Bankintyg).
• The authorized capital of the company can be both monetary and property one. Intellectual property can also be the capital. The authorized capital and all real assets included are subject to assessment and confirmation by the licensed auditor.
• The shareholder of the PJSC in Sweden can be both natural person and legal entity. But there should be at least two shareholders.
• Minimum amount of the authorized capital for the LLC in Sweden equals to SEK 50,000. For the JSC, the amount shall be not less than SEK 500000.
• The director of the company can be any natural person. It is important for the applicant to be adult and have no previous convictions. However, the director (as well as the founder and / or the shareholder) shall necessarily obtain work permit in Sweden. Such permit is issued by the national register (Patent och Registreringsverket).
• Private LLC shall include at least one director, and public LLC - at least three. It is important that if the authorized capital of the company exceeds one million Swedish kronas and the number of employees is more than 30 people, then it is necessary for one of the directors (from the management of the company) to be the resident of Sweden.
• Certain types of activities require obtaining special license (investment business, establishment of venture funds, or banks).
• After submitting all the necessary documents, it is only necessary to wait a couple of hours and the company will be registered. In order to save personal time, the documents can be sent via the Internet.
• If you own 50% or more of shares of any local company and have sufficient capital, you can obtain residence permit in Sweden. It is issued firstly for the period of two years, and then becomes permanent in case of successful continuation of the work of your company.
• In order to obtain business visa, it is needed to provide business plan for your undertaking and confirm the availability of sufficient funds to start business and reside in the country for one year.
• If you plan to open account with the Swedish bank, you need to have Swedish citizenship or obtain personal number (personnummer), which is provided to all citizens permanently residing in the country. In special cases, the account can be opened for those persons who conduct business with local companies, as well as upon the request of the Central Bank of Russia. In the event that the director of the bank considers the reasons insufficient for opening the account, then you will be refused.

In order to open private account, it is necessary to obtain recommendation certificate in English or Swedish from any bank in which you were previously served, copies of several utility bills at your place of residence, and international passport.

Bookkeeping in Sweden

Each company shall maintain current accounting records, which reflect all the transactions carried out by the company during one financial year. Thus, the financial standing of the company for the current period should be absolutely clear.

The accounting report contains daily record keeping of all the amounts of money that were received or transferred, record on the amounts of the liquid assets, and the amount of the shareholders' shares including their total amount should be indicated.

The reports should be stored at the company's registered office. The representatives of the financial control authorities should be guaranteed with the access to them.

Only joint-stock companies with the capital in excess of SEK 30,000 and in which the number of employees exceeds 200 people are required to submit the audit report.

The audit is conducted by specialized companies.

Taxes in Sweden

• Income tax or corporate tax is 26.3%. If the partners of the PJSC conduct activities outside Sweden, corporate tax is not charged.
• Tax on incoming dividends is 0%, provided that the income was received from resident companies.
• There should also be compliance with the following requirements:
• Ownership of shares equals to at least 25%;
• Subsidiary is the tax resident in the country where the corporate tax rate is close to Swedish.

In other cases, the tax rate on incoming dividends is 26.3%

• Capital gains tax is 26.3%, as a rule.
• Withholding taxes:
  - tax on royalties is usually not levied;
  - the total rate of dividend tax is 30%. The tax may be reduced by order of the EU directive or according to the agreement on avoidance of double taxation.
• Dividends paid by Swedish holding company are exempt from tax if:
• All shares are held in the company as business assets;
• The parent company pays income tax at the rate of at least 15.4%;
• The parent company owns 25% or more shares of the Swedish company.
• The tax on interest payments is not withheld.
• The standard rate of VAT in case of domestic sales is 25%.

Tax evasion in Sweden is almost impossible. And penalty can equal to 40% of the amount of debt.

Registration of business in Sweden is one of the directions of work of our law company. We will register ready made company in Sweden for you within the shortest time possible. Buying company in Sweden is now easier than ever. Company formation in Sweden is one of the simplest and cheapest ways to start legitimate international business. Registration of companies is one of the main directions of our work.