Read more here (in Swedish).
For companies that are required to use a cash register, this means that they can now choose whether to offer a customer an electronic receipt, a paper receipt, or both options.
Companies that sell goods and/or services for cash or card payment must use a cash register with certain exceptions (see Chapter 39, Sections 4-5 of the Swedish Tax Procedure Act, in Swedish Skatteförfarandelag (2011:1244), SFL).
If there is an obligation to use a cash register, a receipt generated by the cash register must be created for each sale and offered to the customer (see Chapter 39, Section 7 of the SFL).
The Swedish Tax Agency's regulation previously stipulated that a cash register receipt can be either a paper receipt or an electronic receipt (see Chapter 2, Section 3 and Chapter 7, Section 1 of SKVFS 2021:17).
However, the Swedish Tax Agency has also previously taken the view that a retailer must always be able to offer a paper receipt if a customer so wishes in order to fulfil its obligation to present and offer a receipt in accordance with the SFL.
The new position changes the Tax Agency's attitude towards the previous assessment. This means that companies that are obliged to use a cash register now have the right to create and offer only an electronic receipt to the customer.
The wording of Chapter 39, Section 7, Paragraph 2, SFL merely states that a receipt issued by the cash register must be issued and offered to the customer for each sale. The legal text therefore contains no information on the form in which the retailer is obliged to issue and offer a receipt. In addition, the regulations of the Swedish Tax Agency stipulate that a cash register receipt can be either in paper or electronic form.
In the preparatory work for the Swedish Tax Procedure Act, it was particularly emphasised that the Tax Procedure Act is technology-neutral. This was also clarified in later preparatory work from 2022, which clearly shows that there is not always an entitlement to the provision of information on paper, which supports the assessment that the law does not require that the customer always be offered a receipt in paper form.
In some cases, the customer may not want to receive or be able to receive an electronic receipt. According to the Swedish Tax Agency's assessment, the form in which the customer would like to receive or is able to receive the receipt is also irrelevant.
The retailer's obligation merely means that a receipt must be issued and offered to the customer for each sale. This obligation is fulfilled regardless of whether the customer is offered a paper receipt or an electronic receipt.
The statement of the Swedish Tax Agency dated December 4, 2024 can be found under this link (in Swedish).
efsta offers a digital receipt that gives you a competitive advantage in the Swedish market. A digital receipt is an environmentally friendly and cost-saving option for companies and more convenient for both companies and their customers. You can find out more about our "Simple and Smart Bill" here or contact us to learn more about our solution.
On our comprehensive country page about Sweden we provide you with further details on the Swedish tax law. Here you can find out how companies can optimally implement the current legal requirements and how efsta can help.
