Ending and deregistering a sole trader

Equipment and movable property 

When you are getting rid of equipment it's best to sell it - from both a sustainability and financial point of view. You can also donate to charity. Some charities also offer pick-up for larger loads. 

Equipment and movable property that cannot be sold should be recycled as much as possible. Hazardous waste must be handled properly. More information is at Naturvårdsverket.

Hazardous waste at The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (in Swedish)

Taxable own withdrawals 

If you still have assets and debts when your business ceases, you must record them against the business's own capital account. This entails you personally taking over the assets or liabilities and it is therefore the last business transactions of your company before the financial statement. 

If you take over your business assets privately instead of selling them, this is called an own withdrawal. Your own withdrawals are taxable and this affects your income tax return and your VAT return. Examples of taxable own withdrawals are equipment and stocks. 

For withdrawal taxation, you must include the asset’s market value as income of economic activity. The market value is what you could be paid for the asset if you were to sell it to someone else. You must also tax depreciated equipment. 

If you are VAT registered, you must declare output VAT for withdrawal taxation. VAT on own withdrawals is calculated based on the purchase price or the market value excluding VAT, whichever is lowest. If the purchase price is missing, you can use the cost price instead. The cost price consists of all the costs you have had to produce the goods. 

Paying the right preliminary tax 

The preliminary tax that you pay today will probably no longer be correct when you end your business. This is because your business result is affected by the sale of stocks, own withdrawals and funds to be reversed for taxation. To pay the correct preliminary tax, you should therefore submit a new preliminary income tax return. 

If you do not file a new preliminary income tax return, you will continue to pay the same preliminary tax as before. Otherwise, you run the risk of a tax debt being handed over for collection. 

Change your debited preliminary tax at The Swedish Tax Agency (in Swedish)

Revoke F-tax and deregister as an employer and from VAT

When you close your company, you must deregister it in various places, for example, cancel the company's F-tax and deregister it as an employer. The easiest way to do this is via the services here at verksamt.se.

F-tax, VAT, employer and SNI

Deregister via form

If you are unable to use the e-services, you can use paper forms to deregister yoursole trader from F-tax, VAT, or as an employer, and change information.

End a sole trader via a form from the Swedish Tax Agency

Deregister supervisory unit and cash register 

When you deregister your business, you must also reactivate your cash register. You can do this in the e-service Cash Register on the Swedish Tax Agency's website.  

Cash register e-service at the Swedish Tax Agency (in Swedish)

Deregister via form

If you are unable to use the e-services, there is a form available (in English) at the Swedish Companies Registration Office.

The form Deregistration, sole trader business, trading partnership and limited partnership at the Swedish Companies Registration Office

Protect your company name for continued use  

The right to your company name expires if you do not protect it in some way. For example, you may have another company that wishes to continue using the name. Then you should report it as a secondary company name. You do this at the Swedish Companies Registration Office. Some company names can also be protected as trademarks.  

Deregistering representatives 

Have you notified someone who is authorised to look at or provide information on your behalf via the Tax Agency's e-services? If you no longer want the authorisation to apply, you should notify the Swedish Tax Agency that the person is to be deregistered.  

Deregistering representatives via the e-service at the Swedish Tax Agency (in Swedish)