Of the five Nordic countries, only Sweden, Norway and Denmark have currently introduced mandatory fiscalization requirements for POS systems. Finland and Iceland have not yet introduced mandatory fiscalization. Denmark is the most recent example. The new regulations have been in force there since 2024. In this article, we compare the fiscalization requirements of these three countries.
In Sweden and Norway, most companies are obliged to comply with the fiscalization requirements.
Denmark, on the other hand, restricts the regulation to certain sectors
Companies operating in the following four sectors must use an electronic cash register system. Provided that their annual turnover is less than DKK 10 million:
Details on the Danish requirements since 2024 can be found directly from the Danish Tax Agency (SKAT).
Sweden also has comprehensive requirements, although there are exceptions to the obligation to pay social security contributions.
A complete list is available from the Swedish Tax Agency, Skatteverket.
Exempt are among others:
Norway also defines exceptions based on the legislation on cash register systems.
These include, among others:
The full overview is provided by the Norwegian tax authority Skatteetaten.
Norway and Denmark rely on software-based fiscalization. The decisive factor here is which functions a POS system must include or exclude (e.g. the prohibition of manipulative functions).
There are no special hardware requirements, but each point of sale must be equipped with a normal printer. Receipt printing is mandatory.
Sweden traditionally follows a hardware-based model in which a so-called control unit (usually a physical device) is connected to the cash register.
The Swedish model has since evolved. Cloud-based control units are also permitted, such as those used by efsta. Companies can therefore work without physical fiscal hardware. You can find more information on our solutions page for Sweden.
In 2024, the Swedish Tax Agency also announced that companies are no longer obliged to issue paper receipts. The customer can choose whether they want to receive the receipt in paper form, digitally or in both variants. A printer is therefore no longer mandatory.
The full legal basis can be found in the official communication from the Swedish Tax Agency.
All three countries attach great importance to the integrity of the POS system. It is important that transaction data and reports cannot be changed retrospectively.
In addition, the daily creation of X and Z reports is mandatory. These reports document all cash movements. The X report shows an overview without resetting data. The Z report shows the daily closing and resets the data to zero.
The following applies to data export:
In Sweden and Norway, the cash register provider must provide a declaration that the system meets the respective requirements.
In Sweden, companies are also obliged to inform the tax authorities which POS system and which control unit are used.
An overview of the fiscalization requirements in Denmark, Norway and Sweden in comparison
| Country: | Denmark | Norway | Sweden |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who must register for tax purposes: | Only certain sectors | Most companies | Most companies |
| Type of taxation: | Originally hardware-based, now also available as software or cloud solution | Software-based | Software-based |
| fiscal device | No | No | Yes (control unit or control system) |
| Digital signature of the transaction required | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| X and Z reports required | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Notification to the tax authorities: | SAF-T | SAF-T | XML format |
| Declaration to the tax authorities | No | Yes (product declaration from the system supplier) | Yes (manufacturer's declaration) |
| Registration by end customers: | No | No | Yes, the company must notify the Swedish Tax Agency which cash register and control unit are being used. |
The requirements are complex, we help you implement them
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