Sweden lets Skatteverket refuse and cancel VAT registrations
- Jurisdiction
- Sweden
- Tax
- VAT
- Change type
- Registration
- Status
- In force
- Announced
- 6 May 2026
- Effective
- 1 July 2026
- Authority
- Sveriges riksdag (riksdagen.se)
- Verified
- Fetched from official source · high confidence
Anyone applying for or holding a Swedish VAT number. From 1 July 2026 Skatteverket can run extra checks on applications, reject them, cancel an existing registration, and mark a number invalid in VIES — which your EU counterparties will see.
On 6 May 2026 the Riksdag voted in favour of the Government's proposal for tougher rules against VAT fraud; from 1 July 2026 the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) may perform additional checks on VAT-registration applications, reject applications or cancel an existing VAT registration, mark a VAT number as invalid in the EU VIES exchange system, and decline to credit excess input VAT where there is a risk of tax evasion.
What changed in detail
On 6 May 2026, the Riksdag voted in favour of the Government’s proposal for tougher rules against VAT fraud. From 1 July 2026, the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) may run additional checks on VAT-registration applications, reject applications or cancel an existing VAT registration, mark a VAT number as invalid in the EU VIES exchange, and decline to credit excess input VAT where there is a risk of tax evasion.
What it means
This sharpens the gatekeeping around Swedish VAT numbers. Legitimate businesses should make sure their registration details are clean and current, because Skatteverket now has explicit authority to refuse, cancel or VIES-invalidate a registration where it sees fraud risk.
Proof
Åtgärder mot mervärdesskattebedrägerier (SkU22)
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