Ebba Perman Borg
Partner
Stockholm
Sweden
INQUIRY INTO THE TAXATION OF BOARD FEES APPOINTED
by Ebba Perman Borg & Victor Elovsson
Published:
On 2 September 2026, the Swedish government appointed an inquiry to review how fees from board assignments and other assignments of a personal nature are taxed, and to propose amendments to the Swedish Income Tax Act. See the press release here and the terms of reference here.
Work that depends on a particular person’s efforts can generally be carried on through a limited company. Board fees are an exception: under a presumption developed in HFD case law, most recently confirmed in HFD 2017 ref. 41, a board fee is as a rule taxed as employment income of the director personally, even if paid to a company the director owns, since a directorship can only be held by a natural person. No corresponding presumption applies to other personal assignments. In HFD 2019 not. 31, HFD itself observed that it may seem unmotivated to attach such weight to the personal nature of the assignment, but found no reason to reconsider its position.
The inquiry is to propose amendments ensuring that board fees are treated equivalently, for tax purposes, to fees from other assignments of a personal nature, with particular regard to uniformity of taxation and companies’ ability to attract external board competence. The current treatment has been questioned as making it less advantageous to provide board work through a company and as causing higher costs for companies that depend on external directors.
The inquiry is to report by 31 October 2027. Any legislation will follow the ordinary consultation and parliamentary process.
