Pension from Sweden
One of Sweden’s pension types is no longer paid to foreign citizens
This change concerns the Swedish pension called ‘guarantee pension’ — garantipension. Those who have received the Swedish guarantee pension so far have tax cards for 2023 that include the income in the card’s withholding percentage rate. As a result, the withholding may become too high. We recommend that beneficiaries of guarantee pension from Sweden request a revised tax card for 2023 via MyTax or over the telephone at 029 497 000.
If you receive a pension from Sweden, the pension will be taxed in Sweden. However, the pension will affect your taxation in Finland. When you request a tax card for your Finnish pension, you can ask the Finnish Tax Administration to take your Swedish pension into account in the calculation of the tax rate. When a higher tax rate is applied to your Finnish pension during the year, you avoid paying back taxes and interest.
If the pension you receive from Sweden is more than €7,000, you will have to make a prepayment. When you request a new tax card or a revised tax card, you can choose if you want to pay the taxes on the income as a prepayment or if you want the income to be taken into account in the current year’s tax rate.
Request a tax card or prepayment in MyTax
Report the pension your have received from abroad and tax paid abroad under Foreign income.
If you are filing on paper, fill in the following forms:
If you did not move to Finland or start receiving a pension from Sweden until after 4 April 2008, the credit method is applied to the taxation of your pension. The pension from Sweden will be taxed in Finland, but the Swedish tax will be credited, i.e. deducted from the Finnish tax. However, the credited amount may not be greater than the tax imposed on the Swedish pension in Finland.
The taxation applied to your pension income in Sweden depends on whether you are regarded as a resident or non-resident taxpayer in Sweden.
Taxation in Sweden
If you are a non-resident taxpayer, you are usually liable to pay the SINK tax (state income tax for non-residents) in Sweden. Since 2018, the SINK tax rate has been 25%. If you receive a general pension (“allmän pension”) from Sweden based on social security, part of the pension may be tax-exempt in Sweden.
In 2021, the maximum tax-exempt amount is 3,055 Swedish krona per month. In 2020, the maximum amount was 3,035 krona. If the pension paid to you from Sweden is smaller than the tax-exempt amount, Sweden does not withhold any tax from your pension.
The Nordic tax treaty changed at the beginning of 2009. If you lived in Finland on the signing date of 4 April 2008 but received a pension from Sweden, the taxation applied to your pension has not changed: the exemption method is still applied to the taxation of the pension you receive from Sweden. If you also receive pension or earned income from Finland, your Finnish tax rate is calculated based on all your income (income from Finland + income from Sweden). However, you will pay tax in Finland only on the income received from Finland. The exemption method is applied for as long as you reside in Finland without interruptions.
Swedish pension and Finnish tax return
Keep safe the document you receive on your pension from the Swedish pension provider ("Kontrolluppgift") at the beginning of the year. You will need it in the spring when you check your Finnish tax return. The pension you have received from Sweden and its effect on your tax assessment in Finland are usually indicated on the Finnish tax return and tax decision.
When you receive a Finnish tax return, this is what you should do:
If you do not use MyTax, fill out Form 16A, Statement on foreign income (earned income).
How to file information for your tax return on paper
If there is nothing to add or correct, you do not have to do anything.
Key terms: