In Sweden, employees on business trips can receive tax-free per diems to cover meal and incidental expenses. These allowances apply to both domestic and international travel, and are regulated by the Swedish Tax Agency. Per diem expenses in Sweden are calculated using daily-based rates.
Conditions for tax-free per diems
Per diems are not treated as part of an employee’s salary and are therefore tax-free, provided the following conditions are met:
The trip must include at least one overnight stay away from the employee’s regular workplace. Travel between midnight and 6:00 AM counts as an overnight stay, even if the employee is working during that time.
The destination must be more than 50 km from the employee’s home or usual workplace.
The trip must qualify as a business trip, which means that it's undertaken for work purposes outside the employee’s regular place of work.
The allowance is only tax-free up to the maximum limit set by the authorities.
Any per diem or reimbursement that doesn’t meet these criteria, or exceeds the approved amount, is considered taxable income.
Domestic trips
For domestic business trips, per diem rates are determined by the length of the trip, which is measured by the total time the employee is away.
For example, an employee is traveling from Stockholm to Gothenburg in Sweden and has filled in the following trip details:
In the Payhawk template, based on the data entered by the employee, the corresponding columns will be populated in the following way:
Destination. Sweden
Destination code. SWE-Gothenburg
Currency. SEK
Full day. 290
First/Last day. 145
Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. 58. 102. 102.
In this case, the system calculates the rates in the following way:
First/Last day: 290 SEK total will be calculated and included in the per diem expense amount for the first and last days of the two-day trip.
Breakfast: 58 SEK will be calculated and included in the per diem expense amount.
Lunch: 102 SEK will be calculated and included in the per diem expense amount.
Dinner: 102 SEK will be calculated and included in the per diem expense amount.
Trips abroad
When employees travel internationally, different rates apply. The per diem allowance depends on the specific destination country.
For example, an employee is traveling from Stockholm, Sweden to Paris, France and has filled in the following trip details:
In the Payhawk template, based on the data entered by the employee, the corresponding columns will be populated in the following way:
Destination. France
Destination code. FRA-Paris
Currency. SEK
Full day. 910
First/Last day. 455
Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. 136,5. 318,5. 318,5.
In this case, the system calculates the rates in the following way:
Full day: 910 SEK will be calculated and included in the per diem expense amount for the full day from the trip.
First/Last day: 910 SEK total will be calculated and included in the per diem expense amount for the first and last days of the three-day trip.
Breakfast: 136,5 SEK will be calculated and included in the per diem expense amount.
Lunch: 318,5 SEK will be calculated and included in the per diem expense amount.
Dinner: 318,5 SEK will be calculated and included in the per diem expense amount.