Tax, customs and execution

Eric Westroth (SD)

Madam Speaker! Today, the Committee on Taxation is debating expenditure area 3, which concerns the Swedish Tax Agency, the Swedish Customs Service, and the Swedish Enforcement Authority. These are three agencies that rarely land in the spotlight but which uphold our entire social structure. Without them, the financing of the welfare state collapses, and the door is left wide open for organized crime.

Let us initially remind ourselves where Sweden stands in 2025. For decades, we have seen growing material prosperity. Technological progress has made life more comfortable for most, but in parallel, a significantly darker development has taken place. Security has been eroded at a pace we hardly thought was possible.

Even though the number of shootings has decreased in recent years, neither shootings nor bombings are any longer exceptions, but they have become commonplace, while blue-light personnel are attacked when they try to save lives. Swedish criminals have also become an export product. They travel to Copenhagen and Oslo to murder rivals or blow up apartments. What was once unthinkable is now reality. In this context, Skatteverket, Tullverket, and Kronofogden are not only administrative authorities but also a central part of Sweden's internal defense.

Madam Speaker! The Swedish Tax Agency is the gatekeeper against welfare fraud and tax crimes. When it comes to the population register, hundreds of thousands of people are incorrectly registered. For a majority of these, it concerns pure administrative mistakes, but some individuals live luxury lives abroad while simultaneously collecting Swedish benefits.

Others have managed to obtain multiple identities in order to, in this way, maximize payments from the welfare systems. We have seen former ministers and government officials from Iraq and Afghanistan who have collected Swedish benefits while living and working in Baghdad or Kabul.

As recently as last week, the Payment Authority, established by the Sweden Democrats and the government, reported that at least 40 million kronor were incorrectly paid out during 2024 to persons who do not have the right to stay in Sweden. It concerned compensations such as unemployment benefits, child allowance, parental leave, and activity support. However, it could not be determined whether the persons were in the country illegally or had moved out.

These are not minor errors, but rather a systematic exploitation of systems that are built to help the weakest. It also highlights the necessity of having correct registers in order to be able to make correct payments from the welfare systems to those who need it and who have the right to it.

Therefore, the Sweden Democrats and the government are adding an additional 35 million kronor in 2026, to strengthen the work with residency controls and quality assurance of the population register, with a view to increasing it by an additional 130 million kronor in 2027.

The Sweden Democrats and the government will also submit proposals that the Swedish Tax Agency should be granted expanded powers to handle biometrics on a larger scale than today. This is completely necessary to eliminate the risk that an individual can have multiple identities.

Furthermore, the Sweden Democrats and the government are making additional reinforcements to the Swedish Tax Agency's work against organized crime and the criminal economy, with an appropriation increase of 20 million kronor. It is about countering money laundering, preventing companies from being used as criminal tools, and strengthening the agency's work both individually and in cooperation with others.

Madam Speaker! The Swedish Customs stands at the border, literally. It is the first and sometimes only barrier against the smuggling of drugs, weapons, and stolen goods. The larger the seizure, the clearer the signal becomes – that the smugglers, unfortunately, count on getting away with it. That is why they send them in containers instead of in letters. At the same time, cocaine seizures have doubled in recent years. Sweden has unfortunately, in some cases, appeared to become a gateway for drugs into the EU.

At the same time, the social climate has become increasingly harsher, and the criminal gangs possess an ever-growing capital of violence. In regular control activities, customs officers have long worked without weapons, despite increased traffic intensity and ever-increasing international and cross-border crime.

The Sweden Democrats and the government have now given the customs officers what they have long desired and asked for, namely increased powers and the right to carry weapons in their control activities.

Madam Speaker! For a long time, the Swedish countryside has been plagued by international theft gangs that have toured, primarily in southern Sweden. Our country has unfortunately appeared as a veritable buffet where thieves have been able to take both boat motors and lawnmowers, ATVs, construction machinery, and entire truck fleets, with a low risk of being detected.

On September 1 this year, the Sweden Democrats and the government introduced a new criminal offense: export smuggling, which means that those who attempt to transport stolen goods out of the country can be sentenced to imprisonment for up to six years.

The insurance industry estimates that stolen goods worth 1.5 billion kronor leave the country every year, but now this plague is expected to decrease in scope when customs receives new tools to search for and detect stolen goods in the cross-border traffic flow.

The Sweden Democrats and the government also have the ambition to introduce new legislation as early as next year regarding increased restrictions concerning the export of cash, which frequently originates from proceeds of crime.

To strengthen the work against both export smuggling and smuggling, the Sweden Democrats and the government are increasing the appropriation to the Swedish Customs Service by 100 million kronor to raise the ambitions in the control activities as well as strengthen the work to choke the criminal economy.

Madam Speaker! The Swedish Enforcement Authority (Kronofogden) is an authority that, to put it somewhat mockingly, has moved from being an authority that hunts unpaid parking fines to becoming one of the sharpest weapons against organized crime. Through remote seizure and cooperation with other authorities, the Swedish Enforcement Authority can strike at criminals' Rolex watches, Ferrari cars, and bundles of cash, even though the perpetrators are poor as church mice on paper. It sends a clear signal to the next generation: crime does not pay, and capital goods financed with criminal profits will be taken away.

We now look forward to the Swedish Enforcement Authority having the right to request assistance not only from the Police Authority but soon also from the Swedish Customs Service, the Swedish Coast Guard, and the Swedish Economic Crime Authority.

Madam Speaker! Last year, the Sweden Democrats, together with the government, made one of the largest investments ever in these three agencies with over 1 billion kronor. We also continue in the coming years with an investment of over 700 million more than last year. In total, it will be 15.5 billion for 2026 for the entire expenditure area.

These are funds that go directly to more controls, more investigators, higher presence, more seizures, more efficient management, and more foreclosures. These are measures that cut off the criminals' oxygen: their money.

Madam Speaker! The Swedish Tax Agency, the Swedish Customs Service, and the Swedish Enforcement Authority are small agencies with gigantic mandates. They are rarely seen on the front pages when they do their jobs, but we notice immediately when they are not given the conditions to do so. This budget will give them even better conditions than they have had previously.

I therefore move for the approval of the committee's proposal in its entirety.

(Applause)

In this speech, Jimmy Ståhl (SD) agreed.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Ida Ekeroth Clausson (S)

Madam Speaker! In our country, we finance our welfare and security collectively. A fundamental prerequisite is that the authorities tasked with ensuring the financing of the public sector are characterized by efficiency and accuracy and enjoy a high level of confidence among the public and businesses.

That the public and companies have a high level of confidence in the tax system is central to the Swedish welfare model. Relevant authorities, including Skatteverket, shall prioritize efforts to ensure uniformity and legal certainty in their respective operations. The regulatory frameworks that the authorities themselves have at their disposal shall serve the purposes specified, but it is important that the authorities are clearly directed to continue the simplification work regarding national and international regulatory frameworks.

The Swedish Tax Agency, the Swedish Customs Service, and the Swedish Enforcement Authority perform central tasks for the state. The Social Democrats therefore want to strengthen the agencies' work in creating order and clarity, countering fraud and crime, and safeguarding a stable and solidary financing of our common commitments.

Madam Speaker! There must be order and clarity in our registers. Inaccuracies in the population register create major problems for the entire society, because the information in the population register forms the basis for other authorities' decisions.

The previous Social Democratic governments implemented a change of course in the population registration, which began with the reintroduction of the population registration offense, which had been removed by the previous Moderate-led government. This work has continued, with new tools and powers for the Swedish Tax Agency in order to be able to create order and clarity.

Among other things, the identity checks before population registration or the assignment of a coordination number after verified identity have been strengthened as Skatteverket began using technical equipment last year that enables biometric comparison during identity checks.

Madam Speaker! Tax evasion and tax avoidance damage trust in our systems and erode the common welfare. All efforts made to combat tax evasion and tax avoidance are beneficial and should continue to be prioritized. The responsibility rests with us to ensure that the welfare system has the funds required to deliver healthcare, care, and education year-round and throughout the entire country. For this, taxation based on ability to pay and a constant ongoing effort to close loopholes that enable tax evasion and tax avoidance are required.

Tax evasion, tax crimes and undeclared work threaten our social cohesion and erode the funding of our common welfare and security. It also risks challenging the legitimacy of the entire tax system. Exactly how large the tax loss is in Sweden has not been established, but estimates suggest that it involves many billions of kronor per year that disappear from the state treasury.

These are funds that we could use for welfare, the police, or for defense. Every tax krona must be used effectively. To work powerfully for this is an important political priority for us Social Democrats.

Labor incomes that are withheld from taxation are a significant societal problem. Shadow work does not only affect tax revenues but also leads to unequal conditions in the labor market and unhealthy competition in the business sector.

The Swedish Tax Agency's ability to counter undeclared work is therefore important for the public sector's funding and a well-functioning society for the public and companies.

In the annual reports for 2023 and 2024, the Swedish Tax Agency pointed out that the tax audits of companies could not be carried out to the planned extent, partly due to a large proportion of manual handling. In the budget basis for 2024–2026, the agency assessed that the number of audits was approaching a level that is not reasonable for maintaining trust, reducing tax errors, and managing high-priority tax error risks.

The extensive occurrence of undeclared work, Skatteverket's problems with maintaining a reasonable level of control, and the need for additional measures indicate that there is potential to improve Skatteverket's ability to counter undeclared work.

Every tax krona must be used effectively. To work powerfully for this is, as mentioned, an important political priority for us Social Democrats. Skatteverket's controls must become more numerous and more effective. To strengthen Skatteverket's work, we propose that an additional 75 million kronor be allocated to the agency.

Madam Speaker! Labor crime affects the individual worker who is exploited under appalling conditions. It affects the entire labor market and distorts competition to the detriment of serious companies. Furthermore, it is known that organized crime can use labor crime as part of its criminal operations.

People are being exploited today in Swedish workplaces. Tax evasion and illegal work have become business models. Companies bypass rules regarding wages and the work environment and still win public procurements. Organized crime in the labor market has taken hold.

The government and the Sweden Democrats say they prioritize crime fighting, but when it comes to cheating on the labor market, measures are conspicuously absent. It is a betrayal of all workers who go to work every day in the belief that laws and rules apply to everyone, and against serious companies that are forced to compete with unscrupulous ones that dump wages and cheat on taxes.

A government investigation, commissioned by the previous Social Democratic government, shows how rut and rot can be abused by unscrupulous companies. The investigator also notes that Skatteverket's controls have decreased over several years and therefore proposes stricter controls and better follow-up. But the government remains passive.

At the same time, billions in tax revenue are flowing into the wrong pockets. It is not about petty fraud, but about a growing shadow economy where people are exploited, tax money disappears, and honest companies are driven out of business. This undermines the entire labor market. We Social Democrats do not accept this. We demand an offensive against crime in the working life.

Madam Speaker! Unfortunately, the brutal gang violence and insecurity continue to spread in our country. Sweden is becoming both poorer and more dangerous. The violence is creeping further down in age, eating further into society, and affecting people's everyday lives. We are reached time and again by news of new shootings, new explosions, and new boundaries that are crossed.

Everything is driven by money. Much of the killing, the shootings and the bombings we have seen is fundamentally about money. If we cannot stop the flow of that money, we will also not be able to crush the crime.

Initiatives across the entire justice chain are absolutely necessary but far from sufficient. The entire society needs to mobilize to combat serious organized crime. The shootings and bombings must stop. The criminal economy and the flow of money to organized crime must be choked off.

The Swedish Tax Agency, the Swedish Customs Service and the Swedish Enforcement Authority have a very important role in this work. The authorities need to cooperate more with each other and with other relevant authorities to map out, prosecute and combat all types of suspected criminal schemes.

The Social Democrats want to facilitate the exchange of information between authorities so that the full power of the state can meet those who attempt to cheat or break the law. We want to implement necessary reforms to tear down the secrecy barriers that can stand in the way of this being carried out with full efficiency. The Swedish Payments Authority, which the previous Social Democratic government launched, is a natural partner for the authorities.

The Swedish Customs Service has a crucial role in stopping drugs and firearms from being brought into the country. It is very important that the Swedish Customs Service can continue to strengthen its crime-fighting work, develop its intelligence-based work, and have a high ambition in its control activities.

Control activities must take place at more border crossings. In order for us to seriously tackle the criminal gangs, the flow of narcotics, weapons, and other illegal goods must be choked off. Customs needs the necessary resources for this work.

To strengthen our borders, we Social Democrats began a substantial expansion of Tullverket. Between 2017 and 2021, resources increased by over a third, and hundreds more were employed. We also initiated a major effort to review all of Tullverket's powers so that the agency would receive better and more up-to-date tools to make our borders and, thereby, our society safer.

It is positive to see that the Swedish Customs Service's work against organized crime contributed to 48 criminal networks being identified and 28 criminal networks being dismantled or seriously damaged during 2024.

Madam Speaker! The SD government has now tried to govern Sweden for three years, and it is clear that they have not succeeded in solving Sweden's problems: 100,000 more unemployed, families struggling every month to make ends meet, and a growth in EU's bottom line.

The Swedish Enforcement Authority has important competence and important tasks to identify signs of over-indebtedness early. That work is particularly prioritized in times of economic crisis, when many households risk falling into debt that creates long-lasting problems for the individual and for society. That work must therefore continue. The mandate for the Swedish Enforcement Authority to itself analyze and identify how the authority can be exploited in criminal schemes needs to continue.

The Enforcement Authority unfortunately continues to witness new records and increased debts. When a record number of children are evicted in Sweden, when every third Swedish family with small children has borrowed money to manage a normal Christmas celebration with Christmas buns, food, and some Christmas presents, and when Sweden has the highest child poverty in the Nordic countries, the government reduces support to the most vulnerable families with children, even though these families' economic situation has not improved in the slightest. Instead of tackling the societal problems, giving ordinary people more money in their wallets, prioritizing growth, and putting the Swedish economy back into gear, the government puts all its effort into implementing an exclusive tax cut that only hits the richest percent.

Madam Speaker! The tax policy that Sweden pursues lays the foundation for our social construction, and for us Social Democrats, it is a tool to create justice, finance the welfare, and ensure that all people, regardless of background, get a reasonable chance to live a good and meaningful life. Since the Riksdag, in the first step of the budget process, has given the policy a different direction than the Social Democrats would like, we refrain from taking a position within expenditure area 3.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Boriana Åberg (M)

Madam Speaker! I thank Ida Ekeroth Clausson for her speech.

Before I ask my question, I want to clarify that the changes in the coordination numbers did indeed occur during a Social Democratic government, but after great pressure from the opposition parties.

I remember very well when Magdalena Andersson commissioned an investigation on how it would be easier to obtain coordination numbers. This sparked indignation among others, including the Swedish Tax Agency, which conducted an analysis of coordination numbers for taxation purposes where it turned out that very many individuals came to Sweden and obtained coordination numbers to subsequently commit crimes or exploit the social security system.

The system of coordination numbers emerged during a time when mobility was not as great. Many authorities perceived that a coordination number meant that the person behind it had been screened and approved by Skatteverket. It was therefore not even close.

But now to my question. Ida Ekeroth Clausson talks very much about the tax error and the part that has arisen through black work income. I wonder if Ida Ekeroth Clausson knows exactly how many billions of kronor are exempted from taxation due to black work.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Ida Ekeroth Clausson (S)

Madam Speaker! No, I cannot answer exactly how large the tax error is. The government has also ensured that one no longer measures the tax error in the same way and as often. It has therefore become more difficult to follow up on what the tax error looks like.

However, it is clear that the more controls that are carried out and the more companies that are audited, the more errors are detected. That is why we Social Democrats have allocated extra money here. We think it is important that those who cheat are prosecuted, precisely because we want to bring in more tax money. We think that things should be done correctly in Sweden.

Therefore, I can think it is a bit strange that one, as a Moderate representative, does not want to come to grips with this criminality. I want to pose the question back to Boriana Åberg: How do you intend to come to grips with this? The Swedish National Audit Office's report from before the summer shows that one does not have sufficient opportunities to come to grips with this. Several of them say themselves that they do not succeed in controlling as many companies as they would like with the resources they have.

Could Boriana Åberg explain why the government does not consider this to be an important task?

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Boriana Åberg (M)

Madam Speaker! I note that Member Clausson did not answer my question. I did not expect any answer either.

It is completely wrong that the government does not want to tackle tax evasion. Admittedly, the reports are now made every four years, but every year the Swedish Tax Agency conducts a deep dive into certain areas. Just black labor was the area that was examined this year, and it is a staggering 97 billion kronor, i.e., 1.9 percent of Sweden's GDP, that disappears in this way.

Therefore, the government wants, in addition to all controls and possibilities to revoke business permits from companies used for cheating and fraud, that people who are supported by benefits shall have an activity requirement. This means that for eight hours a day, one shall be somewhere where one increases one's competence. One cannot, during the same time, work illegally.

I wonder if the Social Democrats think that activity requirements are a good system, if the Social Democrats stand behind the activity requirement, and if any social democratically governed municipalities have already introduced activity requirements.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Ida Ekeroth Clausson (S)

Madam Speaker! We Social Democrats believe that it is important that as many people as possible enter the so-called work line. We want there to be order and clarity in the labor market, and we want the companies to be decent and pay tax. Therefore, we think it is so unfortunate that the government has not done enough to get more people into work. As it stands right now, there are 100,000 more unemployed than when the government took office. Nor are there any proposals on how people should enter into work.

I still want to return to the fact that unemployment has hit new groups that have traditionally had a strong foothold in the labor market. We see that growth has stalled or is at the bottom of the EU. All of that means that Sweden receives less money in tax revenues, and we Social Democrats want a strong welfare society. That is why we believe there should be order and clarity in the labor market and in our authorities.

I return to what we have established in our budget motion, namely that we want to give Skatteverket more money for controls. It is a pity that the government does not prioritize that work.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Boriana Åberg (M)

Madam Speaker! The objective for expenditure area 3 is to ensure the financing of the public sector and contribute to a well-functioning society for the public and companies, as well as to counter crime.

It is no secret that organized crime is one of the greatest threats to Sweden. The Moderates and the other Tidö parties gained the people's trust to form a government primarily thanks to the determination and the ability to implement measures that crush the system-threatening crime.

The government's work has yielded results, but much remains to be done to once and for all choke the criminal economy. Organized crime is driven by money, and when the money runs out, the criminals seek out other countries.

Madam Speaker! The Swedish Tax Agency, the Swedish Customs Service, and the Swedish Enforcement Authority are key actors in the fight against criminals when it comes to both preventing and countering crime. It cannot be overemphasized how important these agencies' efforts are, both individually and together with other agencies, such as the police, to prevent criminal actors from plundering our society.

I remember the reactions from some parties when the issue of the census was raised, but I will not dwell on that. It is better to look forward than backward. Right now, a census is underway which aims to both find out which persons are in Sweden and establish who lives where. An important part of that work has been to produce a national situation report showing an estimate of the number of persons registered in the population register, persons with coordination numbers, as well as persons staying in Sweden without being registered in the population register or having any identity designation. The latter include both individuals who risk being exploited by criminals and individuals who are in Sweden with the purpose of committing crimes.

According to the Swedish Tax Agency's report, almost 80,000 registered persons should be deregistered as moved out because they can no longer be assumed to live in Sweden, and approximately 116,000 persons are registered at the wrong address. This is something that poses an obvious risk for benefit fraud. For example, individuals who are not in Sweden can receive benefits that are residency-based, such as housing allowance, child allowance, and guaranteed pension. Most often, these incorrect payments cannot be reclaimed from the individuals, resulting in large losses for the welfare system. Another fraudulent scheme is sham divorces where the spouses live together, but one, usually the husband, is registered at another address to maximize housing allowance and maintenance support.

Therefore, it is positive that the Swedish Tax Agency has intensified its residency checks and has conducted 20,000 more residency investigations than was possible before the government's initiative on improved population registration through a census.

It is also positive that the identity checks before population registration and the assignment of coordination numbers after verified identity were strengthened when Skatteverket began using technical equipment that enables biometric comparison during identity checks. During 2024, 166 identities were deregistered as false, compared to only nine identities the previous year.

In September 2023, the Moderate-led government appointed an inquiry into, among other things, a review of the penal provisions in the Population Registration Act and the strengthening of the use of biometrics in the population registration. In June this year, the conclusions were presented in SOU 2025:75 with the title Population Registration Activities, Biometrics and Crime Fighting.

The investigators concluded that the expanded possibilities for the processing of biometric material and biometric data that are proposed will have both a crime-preventing effect and a positive effect on the conditions for investigating crimes.

When it comes to information regarding incorrect population registration, reports from the Swedish Enforcement Authority (Kronofogden) are a significant source of information. During 2024, the Swedish Enforcement Authority submitted 11,850 reports of incorrect population registration, compared to 8,000 during the previous year. It is not uncommon for enforcement officers to discover that individuals have registered at industrial properties or even at addresses where only electrical cabinets are located. Therefore, it is desirable that the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) handles this information promptly instead of it taking several months and sometimes years.

Madam Speaker! The Swedish Enforcement Authority (Kronofogden) is the authority that has the best conditions to access criminals' proceeds from crime. For a long time, it was possible for criminals to flaunt luxury items that ordinary hard-working people need to save for a long time to afford – Rolex watches, designer bags, gold jewelry, and so on. Since the law on remote seizure came into force, many gang criminals have been deprived of their valuables during routine traffic or border controls when a check in the debt register has been performed. In addition to setting examples that crime does not pay, the remote seizure gives crime victims a greater opportunity than before to receive the compensation they have been awarded from perpetrators who formally lack income and other assets.

Madam Speaker! I want to say a few words about the Swedish Enforcement Authority's work to reduce the number of people in over-indebtedness, or in other words, people who cannot pay their debts or who themselves experience difficulty in repeatedly paying their bills.

A diligent effort has yielded results. The claim amounts at the Enforcement Authority have decreased by 3 billion kronor, and the number of affected persons fell by 9 percent between the first half of 2024 and 2025.

After years of political passivity and thanks to a change of government, effective legislation was launched. The interest rate cap has been lowered from 40 percent to 20 percent plus the reference rate. The interest deductions for consumption loans are being phased out. And it is only banks and credit institutions that are allowed to grant and mediate consumption credits.

Furthermore, investigations are ongoing regarding the possibility of introducing absolute debt prescription and a changed payment order where the debt is paid before the interest. These are reforms that will help long-term indebted people to return to a sound economy.

Madam Speaker! Since September 1, the export of stolen goods is a crime, and the Swedish Customs has been granted expanded powers to intervene. It was truly high time to stop the progress of the thieves.

According to the joint agency situation report on organized crime, which was presented in August this year, several hundred international crime networks have been active in Sweden since the beginning of the 2020s. Several networks with high threat capacity engage in organized property crimes, such as thefts of cars and car parts, boat engines, technical equipment, and diesel from construction machinery and agriculture.

In addition to the loss of the economic value of stolen products, organized crime leads to diminished trust in the authorities, reduced perceived safety, and increased insurance premiums.

There is a lack of a cohesive assessment of the value of the goods stolen by international crime networks, but the insurance industry estimates it at 1.5 billion kronor annually, Madam Speaker. The Customs Service's increased powers to search for stolen goods leaving the country is undeniably a powerful blow against organized crime.

Every year, large amounts of cash are taken out of Sweden. They are often proceeds from crime. Therefore, the government has proposed measures to strengthen the Swedish Customs Service's controls of cash exports. Cash that is taken out is laundered and reinvested in new crimes.

In the referral to the Council on Legislation, a reporting obligation for the import and export of cash to and from EU countries is proposed. A regulatory framework for this has been lacking until now. Criminals have easily been able to funnel out proceeds from crime. The reporting obligation shall apply to amounts of at least 10,000 euro. It is proposed that the Swedish Customs Service be granted the authority to search bags and conduct body searches, as well as temporarily detain cash for further inspection. It is also important to ensure that those who have reported the export of cash have the economic means to possess the amount they have reported.

Madam Speaker! During the past year, the Swedish Customs Service intensified its work to monitor compliance with the EU's sanctions against Russia and Belarus. The sharp increases in the value of goods exported to countries in Russia's vicinity are an indication that the sanctions are being bypassed. It is morally reprehensible, it undermines Ukraine, and it prolongs the war.

Madam Speaker! I could speak for a long time about the roles of the Swedish Tax Agency, the Enforcement Authority, and the Swedish Customs Service in crime fighting and about their other tasks, but my speaking time has already run out. Therefore, I want to conclude by stating that these agencies' efforts are appreciated by the citizens. They repeatedly receive high ratings in the trust surveys.

Madam Speaker! I vote in favor of the proposal in the report.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Ilona Szatmári Waldau (V)

Madam Speaker! As we have said, we are debating the budget for three agencies: Tullverket, Kronofogdemyndigheten and Skatteverket. The Riksdag has already established the frameworks. Therefore, we cannot make decisions on supplements to the agencies, even if it might be needed in some cases.

The Swedish Enforcement Authority's statistics are a good basis for analyzing societal development. We see that the number of evictions has increased, that the number of people who have a debt with the Enforcement Authority is increasing, and that more people are seeking debt restructuring. The increasing gaps in our country due to the right-wing government's policy are noticeable in the Enforcement Authority's activities.

During the right-wing government's time in power, evictions have increased sharply. Since 2022, the number of evictions via the Enforcement Authority (Kronofogden) has increased by almost 50 percent. In total, for example, 422 children were affected during the first half of the year. Everything indicates that over 800 children will have been evicted from their housing during 2025.

The number of debtors and the total debt amount that the Enforcement Authority has to collect has also increased since the government took office. Soon, when low-income earners with unsecured loans can no longer make deductions and the long-term unemployed receive reduced compensation, the government's policy will have an even greater impact on the Enforcement Authority's operations.

The government is betraying the unemployed. The benefit levels are lowered every hundred days, for some by 5,000 kronor a month. This does not mean that more people will get jobs. The government is simply punishing the unemployed for its own failed job policy.

The government's policy is also marked by the fact that the number of poor people in Sweden has doubled since 2021. Child poverty is also increasing. Now, every eighth child lives in poverty.

Vänsterpartiet is investing in improvements for households, for example through increased housing allowances and health insurance, abolished care deductions, and increased child allowances. With Vänsterpartiet's policy, more people can stay in their homes and manage their expenses. Thus, they do not become cases at the Enforcement Authority. People should not have to borrow to afford food and rent.

Madam Speaker! Organized crime has started activities within the welfare sector, among other things to launder money. This should be a reason for the right to close the possibility of taking out profit in tax-funded welfare activities. But profit is apparently more important than stopping crime and ensuring that tax funds for welfare stay in welfare.

That organized crime has infiltrated the common welfare involves losses in the billions and threatens people's safety and health. It is also a threat to the welfare system, the rule of law, and democracy in Sweden. The Swedish Tax Agency is tasked with stopping the abuse of the welfare systems, but this is primarily directed at the individual. One does not reach the money laundering and the crimes that occur in connection with healthcare and care procurement.

Tax evasion is a major societal problem. It deprives society of significant resources and damages free and fair competition. It also increases inequality when the tax burden is shifted onto other groups with lower incomes. It is also serious because it reduces trust, cohesion, and confidence in our society and our authorities.

Skatteverket should increase its efforts to counter tax evasion and tax avoidance. Therefore, Vänsterpartiet wants to increase the appropriation to Skatteverket by 70 million kronor for the work against tax evasion.

In the budget bill, the government proposes that the appropriation for the census shall increase. Vänsterpartiet considers it important that we have order and clarity within the population registration. It is a prerequisite for our authorities to be able to make correct, legally secure, and effective decisions and to deal with the organized crime that targets our welfare systems. Vänsterpartiet therefore makes an investment in improved population registration. That does more good than a census.

When the Riksdag gave the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) extended powers to conduct inspection visits and abolished the possibility of being registered as a resident without a known domicile, the Left Party (Vänsterpartiet) warned that this risked leading to persons who already lived in vulnerability due to homelessness being able to lose their pension and other benefits from the social insurance systems.

It has now been shown that the Swedish Tax Agency's interpretation of the decision is that those who lack a known population registration are de-registered and seen as missing. The person loses the right to free healthcare, bank accounts, and social assistance measures. This has affected many homeless people, who often do not even know that they are no longer registered in Sweden until they need medical contact or medication. This is obviously something that must be addressed. No one living in Sweden should be de-registered and lose their rights.

Vänsterpartiet's initiative for improved population registration also includes improved work with protected personal data. Women subject to violence and others with protected population registration receive their mail via Skatteverket. Today, it does not work particularly well; they receive reminders, miss doctor's appointments, and so on. In the long run, the authority needs to build up a screening function or obtain permission to go through mail, because today it is possible to, for example, place a tracking device and in that way find a protected address.

The Swedish National Audit Office stated last year that the Swedish Tax Agency's work in forwarding mail to those living with protected personal data is resource-intensive and entails security risks, and that persons living with protected personal data are being exposed as a result of, among other things, a lack of knowledge within government agencies. The information can also be exposed through the municipalities, for example through the children's school. Therefore, the situation for those with protected personal data needs to be improved.

Madam Speaker! The Swedish Customs Service faces many challenges and has received new powers to more easily stop criminals. It is at our borders that we stop drugs and weapons.

A problem that Tullverket has identified is that when the government invests in adjacent activities within the justice system, for example with salary increases for the police, Tullverket risks losing competence when it does not have resources to offer competitive conditions. Despite this, the government has no strategy to secure Tullverket's personnel supply. Today, Tullverket performs spot checks at certain ports and border crossings. In some places, Tullverket is only on site after tips. Tullverket's presence needs to be strengthened, not least due to difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff.

Madam Speaker! I want to conclude where I began: with the household economy. I wonder why the right-wing majority is driving a policy that makes the indebted even more indebted. Why are there no measures and policies that ensure children of the indebted can celebrate Christmas with Christmas food and Christmas presents? Where are the measures so that children are not evicted from their homes? Where are the measures for ordinary people? Where are the measures so that the Enforcement Authority has less to do and not more?

Madam Speaker! The Riksdag has reached a decision on the frameworks for the expenditure area. Vänsterpartiet's initiatives on the Swedish Tax Agency's crime prevention work and improved protection for persons with protected personal data have thus fallen. We have therefore chosen to abstain from participating in the decision on expenditure area 3. I refer to our special statement.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Cecilia Engström (KD)

Madam Speaker! In a time when trust is being tested and social cohesion needs to be strengthened, two of the state's most fundamental tasks are to ensure stable financing of our common welfare and to safeguard trust in the authorities that carry out this work. The Swedish Tax Agency, the Swedish Customs Service, and the Swedish Enforcement Authority are, in this context, not just authorities. They are important social actors who contribute to order, security, and a functioning everyday life for families, companies, and our entire country.

Good conditions for business are crucial for growth. Sweden should be a place where diligence, responsibility, and entrepreneurship are encouraged. But a viable business environment also presupposes that the regulatory frameworks are designed so that unserious actors cannot abuse them. A clean and sound business sector is a fundamental pillar for welfare and for trust in society.

Madam Speaker! Trust in our tax system is among the most valuable assets we have in Sweden. Tax revenues build the welfare for our elderly, children, and the sick, and provide security throughout our country. Therefore, we must stand up for order and clarity in the economy. Tax evasion and incorrect payments are not trivial matters. They erode the social contract and ultimately affect the most vulnerable.

As a Christian Democrat, I particularly want to highlight the importance of the Swedish Enforcement Authority in countering over-indebtedness. No human should end up in a situation where hopelessness takes over and debts grow faster than the possibilities to pay them. But at the same time, the processing times at the Swedish Enforcement Authority must not increase. That the authority is now being provided with funds to meet the increased influx is therefore very welcome. An efficient system benefits both the one who is indebted and the one who has a claim, as well as strengthens trust in the state.

We Christian Democrats hold fast to the principle that it should be easy to do the right thing. The authorities shall be for the people, not the other way around. To succeed with that, the state needs to take advantage of technical developments. AI is already an integrated part of our society. If it is used in the right way, it can strengthen legal certainty, streamline processes, and free up resources for those areas where human interaction is irreplaceable. Therefore, I view the fact that the development of digital services has begun and the national initiative on an AI workshop for public administration positively.

Madam Speaker! A legally secure and correct population registration is a fundamental prerequisite for the society's resources to be distributed fairly. It is about knowing who lives in the country and what needs exist, and ensuring that welfare support goes to those who truly need it. Therefore, it is worrying that the Swedish Tax Agency's latest situation report shows extensive deficiencies, with tens of thousands of people who should have been deregistered and thousands of incorrect addresses.

We Christian Democrats are clear: This is not acceptable. Incorrect population registration creates disorder, promotes fraud, and enables identity-related crime. It affects both the economy of society and individual people. The work to strengthen controls must continue, and it must not be regarded as finished. Therefore, we also welcome the proposal that is now on the government's table that biometric data should be strengthened and that it should be possible to save them for future needs. It is an important step towards a safer Sweden.

Madam Speaker! A secure and safe identity is a prerequisite for legal certainty, welfare, accuracy, and effective crime prevention work. It is, in short, a matter of safeguarding both human dignity and the state's ability to provide the right support to the right person.

In this time, when both technology and crime are developing rapidly, Sweden must have modern tools. In that regard, the new confidentiality-breaking provision is an important step. It is good that the authorities are cooperating to win against crime and counteract fragmentation.

Madam Speaker! Customs is now receiving reinforcements to handle new tasks regarding simplified import of weapons. It is absolutely necessary. Stopping illegal weapons at the border is one of the most fundamental measures to break the gangs' spirals of violence.

We need to strengthen the efforts against the criminal economy. Organized crime hits hard at what holds society together: safety, our economic stability, and people's trust in the state. In this work, the Swedish Tax Agency plays a central role, not least through the coordination of the work between 14 agencies and through the new financial intelligence center.

The Swedish Customs is, as said, a decisive gatekeeper in the same way. They must have the resources to exercise their powers to the full. The Swedish Enforcement Authority's further development of remote enforcement shows that modernization strengthens the fight against crime while simultaneously safeguarding legal certainty.

Madam Speaker! Overall, I therefore support the government's budget proposal for 2026 within expenditure area 3. The proposal strengthens our authorities, our rule of law, and our collective ability to meet the challenges we face.

It is through order and tidiness, through a modern and legally secure administration and by putting people's safety at the center that we build a stronger Sweden. It is a Sweden where welfare is stable, where companies can grow and where crime is fought with force and determination.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Helena Vilhelmsson (C)

Madam Speaker, listeners and members! As said, we shall speak about the activities handled by the Committee on Taxation and the three authorities that are located in this county. We know what importance they have.

A functioning tax system and a functioning payment system are central. The authorities found within this expenditure area play a central role. The decisions made must be reasonable and transparent.

Taxes must be designed so that the competitiveness of Swedish companies is strengthened and so that people dare to take risks and start companies.

That the activities of the Swedish Customs and the Enforcement Authority function well and fulfill their purpose is extremely important for the maintenance of law and order and for security in Sweden. That is what we all agree on, and I do not intend to say much more about it.

The order is that our budgets have essentially already fallen, as the Riksdag has made decisions on the frameworks. Therefore, I intend to take the liberty of telling a bit about what the Center Party's budget contains and what it would have meant if it had been passed.

I do so because taxes are fantastic. Taxes actually affect all policy areas. One thing I have learned during the years in the Committee on Taxation is that one can debate and discuss almost anything. Taxes are present in so many different political areas.

The most important thing to get Sweden back on its feet is that companies and job creation start up again. The number of jobs needs to increase. We need to lower the costs for companies to hire. This applies to small businesses with up to ten employees. It needs to be easier for young people to enter the labor market. This also applies to the long-term unemployed.

We need to strengthen the income tax cuts for those with low incomes.

We need to take a new leadership when it comes to climate and environment. Emissions must be reduced. It is also an issue where the activities handled by the committee within the expenditure area have a large role to play.

We need to invest in the welfare of the countryside and eliminate the geographical differences that exist in our country. There are unacceptable differences in school results and, believe it or not, in mortality in treatable diseases between city and countryside. Understand that the average life expectancy is lower in the Swedish countryside than it is in the city! How has it become like this?

We need to invest in service offices. This is something that is truly urgent within the committee's area and this expenditure area.

Something that the government and all of us talk about and which is very important is to counter crime. This is especially important for our authorities. The Center Party's response to this is to establish an economic crime authority. Economic crime is intimately associated with the serious and violent organized crime.

To access the large flow of money to the gangs and their clients, a special focus must be directed at exactly this. We will not get to grips with the crime if the gangs' income is not choked off. How do we do that in the best way?

We mean that an authority that has the mandate to combat precisely that economic crime must have the prerequisites to independently assemble investigation teams with the right knowledge and competence in the area.

That is why we need a specialized agency that emerges from the current Swedish Economic Crime Authority. That is where the current investment in a financial intelligence center should be included. The agency shall have the opportunity to recruit and train its own staff, who shall be granted the powers required to independently be able to investigate and prosecute the crime within its area.

Strengthened crime prevention work, based on an authority with specialist expertise in the field, is necessary to quickly spread knowledge to others. Here, we mean that an Ekokrim that can strike against corruption, economic crime, and environmental crime needs to be established. It shall be created with resources from today's Ekobrottsmyndigheten, Polismyndigheten, and Åklagarmyndigheten, and with a certain additional resource reinforcement.

We also talk a lot about the census. We have done so for many years. During the last parliamentary term, we had many debates and many decisions were made, which have been mentioned earlier from this rostrum, regarding improvements in the census. It was absolutely appropriate.

We have made many decisions regarding the use of biometrics, introducing visits to offices to apply for coordination and so on. These were much-awaited reforms.

I looked a bit at my colleague's speech last year. He spoke about the census and started with Emperor Augustus.

We have nevertheless carried out these reforms, and by a majority vote it was decided that a new census could be conducted. We know that register matches and cross-referencing are being carried out today. I believe we have even decided that risk-based selections can be made to perform register matches.

But let us look forward, as Boriana Åberg said. I was contacted by the newspaper Hem & Hyra regarding an incident. It has established that there is still an enormous amount of crime through the trade of addresses in summer cottage areas. It is a failing grade.

We have decided that when someone registers at an address where someone already lives, that person shall receive a notice, a letter stating: Hello, someone has moved in at this address – confirm or say that it is incorrect. But this is not done for summer cottage addresses, only where there are already people registered as residents.

The newspaper revealed that at summer cottage addresses, there can be up to 20, 25, or more people listed. The mailboxes became overfilled with mail for those people. The criminal gangs organized it so that a person would come to empty the mailboxes so that the person who owned the mailbox would not have time to see or notice any difference.

Then one wonders: How can it happen in that way? How can the Swedish Tax Agency and other authorities not detect that something is wrong? If it is so simple that we in the decision missed that information, a letter, should also be sent to summer cottage addresses, I would like to add that it should be a fairly simple matter for the government to rectify. Perhaps even a parliamentary decision is not needed. Those errors should be able to be rectified relatively quickly.

Madam Speaker! The budgets have, as stated, fallen as the Riksdag has adopted a framework decision. We in the Center Party refer to our statement.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Anders Ekegren (L)

Madam Speaker! Today's debate is supposed to be about funds for the authorities – Skatteverket, Kronofogdemyndigheten and Tullverket – which fall under the Committee on Taxation. We shall see if that is the case today. The Committee on Taxation's debates have a tendency to be able to be about just about anything. Sometimes one stretches the definition of what constitutes tax quite broadly.

And since I am the last of the Tidögänget, I can begin by referring much to my three colleagues, who I thought gave three good and informative speeches that I can imagine joining.

These three authorities are very important for securing funds to finance public activities – important areas such as the justice system, defense, and of course our common welfare. The authorities also have an important task to combat crime, especially organized gang crime, which over a long period has increasingly eaten its way into purely legal activities.

The way the three authorities work makes a difference. This is shown by the positive results that the authorities can report in terms of their work to counter the criminal economy.

The total appropriations amount to 15.5 billion kronor. The appropriations to the authorities have increased in recent years and do so also this year. Therefore, it is important that the operations are efficient and are given opportunities to combat crime through legal tools. But more must obviously be done, as the criminals have an ability to constantly stay one step ahead.

Madam Speaker! I am not going back to the Roman Empire, but already in 1749, the power holders of that time realized the need to have an efficient population registration. The need exists today as well. Incorrect registration and identity theft are used as tools within organized crime and benefit fraud. Therefore, it is important to know who lives where and whether persons are in Sweden at all. That was why the tabellverket was started in 1749.

The Swedish Tax Agency estimates that 80,000 people registered in the population register should have been deregistered as moved out since they no longer live in Sweden, and that at least 16,000 people were registered at the wrong address – this is likely an undercount. Therefore, a population count was needed. It is very strange that the opposition does not understand what the authorities of that time understood as early as the middle of the 1700s.

To reduce crime, the authorities have had the possibility of increased information exchange since December 1 of this year. It is a very welcome change, which gives the country's authorities a sharper tool.

I have the privilege of sitting on the Customs Administration's oversight council. It provides a good insight into the authority's activities. Since September 1 of this year, smuggling of exports has been a crime. Already during the short time that the law has been in effect, customs has seized a number of stolen goods, including tools, motorcycles, bicycles, and ATVs that have been attempted to be taken out of the country.

Madam Speaker! One can look a bit at the opposition's proposals. There are four follow-up motions, and there are some other different proposals.

The Social Democrats and the Left Party are making smaller increases for the tax administration. And what I understand is that the Green Party largely joins the government's budget level for these three agencies.

Even this time, not only in last week's tax and budget debate, it is C who deviates significantly from the other parties. In C's committee motion, one can read that the party wants to reduce the appropriations to the authorities by 436 million.

The Swedish Tax Agency will then receive 374 million kronor less. It is said that it is possible to save 100 million kronor by streamlining office usage. The question one then asks is: Are even more tax offices to be merged? There is no reason to discuss individual offices here now, but they have actually rationalized in some places within the tax administration. They have introduced activity-based offices and removed so many places to save money that people cannot find a workplace, and there is a queue in the cafeteria. I do not believe it is possible to save an additional 100 million kronor, therefore.

Centerpartiet wants to take 12 million kronor from the Swedish Enforcement Authority and, inexplicably, reduce the appropriations to the Swedish Customs, an agency that actually receives expanded mandates, by 50 million kronor. I think it is the wrong way to go.

These three authorities are extremely important for us to get money into the welfare system. Even some speakers from the opposition, I should say, have highlighted their very important role. Reducing the money to these three authorities, I do not feel, feels like responsible politics.

I vote in favor of the committee's proposal.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Annika Hirvonen (MP)

Madam Speaker! At this time of year, as we approach Christmas, many of civil society's charitable organizations usually collect money and gifts so that children in poor families can receive gifts and experience that little extra magic around Christmas.

In recent years, these organizations have warned that more and more families are not just asking for help with that little extra for the Christmas table, but for help to be able to eat their fill at all at the end of the month. It is no longer a Christmas present that the parents are asking for for their children. They are asking for a winter overall so that the child can participate in the play on the schoolyard during the break.

The gaps in Sweden have increased, and more and more children are poor. It is extremely palpable at the Swedish Enforcement Authority. The number of people in debt has increased, and the size of the debts has increased. It is also the case that more end up at the Enforcement Authority because they have had to borrow for the most basic things, such as to buy food.

The evictions of children have increased powerfully, even this year. Few things are as harmful for a child as being evicted from their home. When one is forced to move far away, it also means in many cases that one loses their classmates, that one needs to quit the football team, and that one loses very many safe adults around them who could have provided support when the parents end up in a crisis. We even know that evictions of families with children involve a significantly increased risk that the parents commit suicide.

When the child allowance has increased, the government has chosen to remove the increase of the housing allowance that we in Miljöpartiet, together with the Socialdemokraterna, introduced in 2020, when we saw that the covid-19 pandemic meant an economic crisis for many families.

We saw how many companies were forced to lay off or dismiss their employees, and in many industries, operations were simply temporarily shut down. Directly following this, Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine occurred, with enormous effects on costs, and inflation skyrocketed.

We are still stuck in the cost crisis. Perhaps not all of us, perhaps not those of us with high incomes and perhaps not those for whom the government lowered taxes. But for the children and families living in poverty, it is a devastating blow to lose the increased housing allowance. We in Miljöpartiet propose in our budget instead that it should be made permanent until the entire system of housing allowances can be reviewed fundamentally so that it achieves what it was actually intended to achieve.

Madam Speaker! Regarding expenditure area 3, which concerns the Swedish Tax Agency, the Swedish Enforcement Authority, and the Swedish Customs Service, we in Miljöpartiet agree with the other parties on the budget levels for these agencies. But there is much else in the budget that we do not agree with the others on. We think it is wrong to prioritize tax cuts for those who have a lot while more children are becoming poor. We have therefore proposed increased child allowance and housing allowance.

We are also very concerned that the government is doing far too little to counter the increased unemployment. Part of the policy that we consider unfortunate when it comes to how the authorities are managed is that you have reduced the authorities' presence throughout the country. This risks making access to services unequal and, in the long run, also means that citizens do not have the same opportunities to get the help they need from, for example, Arbetsförmedlingen when the service centers are not on site. All of us in the Committee on Taxation have been contacted, I believe, by employees in, for example, Simrishamn who are losing their operations.

We in Miljöpartiet are also very concerned that information will be submitted to these authorities that strongly risks eroding a high level of trust. One of the reasons we oppose the reporting law – perhaps the most important one when it comes to Skatteverket – is that if Skatteverket becomes obligated to engage in the reporting of undocumented persons, one must know that the first thing that happens when a child has been safely delivered at BB is that the child is reported to just Skatteverket. The last thing we want is for mothers who are undocumented to opt out of a safe delivery.

Madam Speaker! The Swedish Tax Agency, the Swedish Enforcement Authority, and the Swedish Customs Service are important authorities for society's crime fighting. The Swedish Customs Service is the authority that has the possibility to stop smuggling of drugs, weapons, hand grenades, etc. The Swedish Customs Service has also been tasked to stop export of, for example, stolen goods from burglaries. These are reforms that we in the Swedish Parliament have been completely in agreement on.

I want to take a moment to reflect on how it is often perceived in the political debate as if we have major conflicts. In some cases, we do. But I also think it is important to note that we agree on many issues. This applies in particular to the view on the importance of correct population registration data at Skatteverket and that Tullverket receives new tools to combat organized crime. I hope that we, even in the parts where we are not yet in agreement, through these constructive debates will be able to reach greater consensus and perhaps by the next budget also reach an agreement on the importance of combating child poverty.

The Green Party's budget proposal is a whole, and it has fallen in the decision on the frameworks. Therefore, we are not participating in the decision on expenditure area 3.

The deliberation was hereby concluded.

(Decisions were made under § 16.)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)