Modernization of the Swedish Tax Agency's control tools
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
S considers the modernization of the Swedish Tax Agency's control tools to be a matter of justice in order to combat tax evasion and ensure that everyone contributes to the welfare 1. The party emphasizes that modern tools are required to meet digital business models and that legal certainty and personal privacy must be respected 1. SD argues that the legislative changes are necessary for the authorities to be able to maintain the legitimacy of the tax system in a digitized society 2. The party wants to remove the prohibition on auditing via the telephone network to enable remote evidence collection, even when information is located abroad 2. M considers the current legislation to be inefficient as companies are forced to submit physical copies 3. The party argues that the reform provides more modern ways to access information without expanding the powers 3.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Blåvitt Elofsson (S)
Mr. Speaker! We are going to debate the modernization of the Swedish Tax Agency's control tools.
Our Sweden is built on a simple but powerful social contract. We work, pay tax according to our ability, and together we finance that which we cannot create alone, namely a strong welfare, with secure healthcare, a good school for our children, and a dignified life for our elderly.
This contract is the very foundation of Swedish society, but for it to function, it is required that the rules are the same for everyone. When people behave correctly but become aware that others are cheating, trust and justice in society are undermined. That is why the question we are discussing today is so important.
We live in an economy that is changing rapidly. Business models are being digitized, accounting is stored in cloud services, and transactions occur across national borders in a matter of seconds. But legislation has not always changed at the same pace as society. In practice, this means that the state sometimes lacks the tools required to detect advanced tax evasion and economic crime.
Mr. Speaker! For us Social Democrats, this is a matter of justice. Every krona that disappears in tax evasion is one krona less for the nurse in the emergency room, one krona less for the teacher in the classroom, and one krona less for the care of the elderly. Equally important is: It is also a krona that distorts the competition between companies.
The vast majority of entrepreneurs in Sweden do the right thing. They pay taxes, follow the rules, and take responsibility for their employees. It is when unscrupulous actors cheat and thereby gain an unfair competitive advantage that damage occurs to the trust in serious entrepreneurs and to the credibility of the entire business sector. That is why the state must be able to act.
Mr. Speaker! I want to be clear about one thing. It is not about giving the state unlimited powers. It is not about increasing the burden for the companies that behave correctly, on the contrary.
A system that lacks modern tools risks becoming blunt, and precisely blunt systems tend to strike broader and harder than necessary. With better, more precise tools, we can instead direct efforts to where they are actually needed.
Mr. Speaker! The Swedish Tax Agency is one of the authorities in Sweden that enjoys the highest level of trust among the population. This is because the work is characterized by professionalism, legal certainty, and respect for the law. But for the authority to be able to do its work in a modern economy, it also needs modern tools.
At the same time, it is crucial – and here I believe we share an important starting point in this chamber – that every step we take to secure the system's legal integrity is done with great respect for the rule of law and personal privacy.
In a democratic society, the fight against crime must never lead to the erosion of fundamental rights. Therefore, it is important that control measures are surrounded by clear legal frameworks, proportionality, and the possibility of review.
Mr. Speaker! Rule of law is not just about protecting the individual from the state. It is also about ensuring that laws can actually be upheld and followed. A regulatory framework that cannot be applied in practice risks becoming unjust in itself.
Mr. Speaker! At its core, this is about something greater than technical rules in the tax legislation. It is about trust in society. For many years, Sweden has been one of the countries in the world where people trust one another and the country's institutions. That trust is not a given. It is built every day through fair rules, through functioning authorities, and through a shared sense of responsibility.
When people know that everyone contributes according to their ability, the will to do the right thing themselves is strengthened. When people know that cheating is being combated, the legitimacy of the tax system is strengthened. When the tax system is perceived as fair, we can continue to finance a strong common welfare.
Mr. Speaker! Social Democracy has always stood for the idea that a strong society is not created by leaving everyone to their own devices. It is created through community, through solidarity, and by us carrying each other when life is difficult and building the future together when times are good.
But for it to work, the responsibility must also be shared. No one should be able to stand outside the social contract and at the same time benefit from it. For that responsibility to apply to everyone, we must also have tools to ensure that the rules are followed.
That is why the work against tax evasion is so important. If one commits advanced tax evasion and advanced tax planning, one should also be subjected to advanced control. It is about fairness, it is about competition on equal terms, and ultimately it is about safeguarding the Swedish social fabric.
BO BROMAN (SD)
Mr. Speaker! Today we are debating proposed legislative amendments concerning a modernization of the Swedish Tax Agency's control tools, something that a unanimous committee has supported. The report and the legislative amendments are fundamentally about something very important: ensuring that our authorities have the tools required to maintain the legitimacy of the tax system.
Mr. Speaker! Sweden is a country where we finance our common welfare through taxes. It is therefore absolutely crucial that taxes are paid correctly. When people or companies deliberately evade taxes, it does not only undermine the state's finances. It also strikes directly at the trust in society. It is therefore necessary to continuously modernize and update the legislation.
Today, there is a prohibition against carrying out certain types of inspections via the telephone network, for example, during audits, evidence collection, and spot tax inspections. These rules belong to another era. In an increasingly digitized society, the control activities must also be able to take place digitally. Through the now proposed legislative changes, these prohibitions are removed.
It means that the Swedish Tax Agency is given the opportunity to carry out evidence preservation even remotely. It is about being able to search for and copy documents in digital systems and to utilize technical aids in order to be able to execute such decisions. It is an important change.
Mr. Speaker! We know that economic crime today is often cross-border and digital. Information can be stored in other countries and moved with the press of a button. If our authorities cannot act in step with this development, we risk falling a step behind. Therefore, it is also reasonable that remote evidence collection should be able to take place even when the information is stored abroad. This is a necessary step to catch up with reality.
Mr. Speaker! The Government and the Sweden Democrats have previously ensured that Customs strengthened with increased powers. It has been an important step in the work against smuggling and organized crime. Now we take the next step. We ensure that the Swedish Tax Agency also receives modern and appropriate tools to combat tax evasion. Ultimately, it is about justice, as Blåvitt Elofsson just mentioned.
Those who act correctly should not have to see others cheat and get away with it. Serious companies should not be competed out by actors who systematically break the rules.
Mr. Speaker! Without tax revenues, we have no welfare and no resources for school, healthcare, and elderly care. Therefore, the fight against tax evasion is not just a technical issue. It is a fundamental question about what kind of society we want.
With these legislative changes, we strengthen the state's ability to act. We adapt the regulatory frameworks to the digital reality and take an additional step to safeguard the Swedish model. It is not a large step, but it is a necessary step.
Boriana Åberg (M)
Mr. Speaker! Today we are debating the report Modernization of the Swedish Tax Agency's control tools. To call it a debate is an exaggeration, as we are united across party lines in the view that our authorities must keep up with developments.
It is a fact that digitalization has fundamentally changed how Swedish companies handle their accounting. Heavy folders and dusty archives are a thing of the past. Instead, a large and growing number of companies store their accounts in cloud services. Therefore, the Swedish Tax Agency's control tools must keep pace with this development.
As it is now, according to current law, Skatteverket is not allowed to connect to the internet during audits, evidence collection, and spot checks. Instead, companies are forced to submit physical copies of their bookkeeping: a cumbersome and inefficient procedure that burdens both the authority and the audited companies.
It is no exaggeration to say that the current legislation is somewhat "out of step with the times." Therefore, it needs to be modernized, and that is exactly what the government has now proposed.
The bill, which was published on 3 February 2026, proposes that the prohibitions on inspection via telephone networks be removed in the Tax Procedure Act (2011:1244) and the Act on the Movement and Control of Certain Excise Goods (1998:506).
The prohibitions apply, as I have already mentioned, today during audits, evidence collection, and spot checks. The proposal gives Skatteverket the right to use its own technical equipment to retrieve electronic information directly, for example via connection to cloud services where the companies' accounting is stored.
Customs and the Enforcement Authority are also affected, as the provisions on securing evidence also apply during these authorities' controls. Thus, these authorities will receive new, more modern control tools. The new rules are proposed to enter into force on July 1 this year.
The reform does not change what information the Swedish Tax Agency has the right to access, and it also does not affect which personal data the authority is allowed to process.
The revision shall always take place in cooperation with the person being reviewed. Coercive measures may only be used in exceptional cases, and decisions on securing evidence are made by or reviewed by an administrative court.
The reform gives the Swedish Tax Agency a more modern way to access information that the agency already has the right to review today – not expanded powers to review more. In other words, the balance between the Swedish Tax Agency's powers and the rights of the person being audited is maintained.
The modernization of the Swedish Tax Agency's control tools is expected to yield tangible practical effects. Direct connection to the companies' accounting replaces manual copying and submission, which reduces the administrative burden for both the Swedish Tax Agency and the audited companies, which is very welcome.
In addition, the Swedish Tax Agency's ability to detect if a company is attempting to withhold information is strengthened. This makes the controls more accurate and effective and contributes to the fight against economic crime.
It is a modern and contemporary piece of legislation that promotes efficiency and which likely means that we can put behind us the time when the tax auditors' primary task was to piece together cut and pasted receipts or to carry out eye-catching dawn raids to bring home boxes of accounting material from audited companies.
Mr. Speaker! I vote in favor of the committee's proposal in the report.
The deliberation was hereby concluded.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.