The Cost of Handling International VAT for Swedish Companies: A 2024 Report

• Administrative cost of handling international VAT for Swedish companies is approximately 2.6 billion SEK per year
• Two largest business segments (50-499 and 500+ employees) account for 50% of total cost
• Overall cost of VAT administration for Swedish companies is 17.5 billion SEK annually
• Study conducted in spring of 2024 to estimate costs of VAT management related to international trade
• Larger companies find VAT in international trade more complex due to broader range of products and services
• Administrative costs supplemented with estimate of material costs, IT and training expenses, and one-time costs
• Observations made on consequences of legislation, including companies avoiding business with certain countries to avoid VAT registration costs
• Some companies adapt transport routes and business flows to simplify VAT handling, resulting in additional costs and environmental impacts
• Smaller companies find VAT handling complex when selling services to other countries
• Triangular trade is considered complex and challenging to manage, with some companies lacking system support

Source: svensktnaringsliv.se

Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.

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