Source Skatteverket
Unoffiicial translation
Many companies now have payment problems. The risk of not getting paid is significantly greater than normal. The Swedish Tax Agency will take this into account when we assess customer losses and approve a reduction in outgoing VAT in more cases than before.
When one of your customers has payment problems, there are two things to keep in mind.
- The first is how to handle the receivable in your accounting. There you need to make a reservation for a loss already when the invoice would have been paid and you have sent out reminders without the customer having paid.
- The second is when you have a confirmed customer loss, because you can then reduce the outgoing VAT that you previously reported.
In order for a customer loss to be ascertained, it is usually required, for example, that the customer is bankrupt or that the Enforcement Officer has tried to collect the debt, but there are no foreclosure assets. Due to the economic situation, you will now be able to reduce the outgoing VAT if all these conditions are met:
- The customer is a taxable person (ie the customer conducts business himself, private individuals are not counted).
- It has been at least three months since the invoice was paid.
- You have sent out a written payment reminder (email counts).
- There must be no common interest between you and the customer.
Please note that this only applies to invoices issued from 1 February to 31 December 2020.
Keep in mind that the reduction in sales and outgoing tax must be reported for the month in which you can establish the customer loss. You must therefore not request a reconsideration for the month in which you reported the VAT from the beginning. This may mean that you report negative sales and outgoing VAT, if the other sales that month are lower than the customer loss.
Kenta AB sold goods to AB ZIB in early February and the invoice was to be paid no later than 16 February 2020. Kenta AB reported sales of SEK 20,000 and outgoing VAT with SEK 5,000 in its VAT return for February. ZIB AB does not pay for the goods despite several written reminders. According to the new application, Kenta AB will report the customer loss in the VAT return for May (three months later). There, they reduce their turnover by SEK 20,000 and their outgoing VAT by SEK 5,000. Since Kenta AB’s sales are zero during May, they must report SEK –20,000 (negative amount) as sales and SEK –5,000 (negative amount) as outgoing tax for that period.
