Byggmoms

: omvänd skattskyldighet för byggtjänster

Abstract

In the early 2000s the Swedish Tax Agency produced a report which examined the shortfall of taxes in the construction industry. The report did include a proposal to introduce reverse charge in the construction industry, construction VAT. The legislative proposal in the bill 2005/06: 130 was accepted by the Swedish parliament and came into force on 1st of July 2007. During the remainder of 2007 the SNI-codes was used to decide whether a company would be subject to the reverse charge or not. On 1st of January 2008 the SNI-codes went from the role of defining to the role of guiding. The main problem is that of boundary concerning the categorization if a service should be classified as a building service or a company classified as a building company where the application of the regulation is not crystal clear. This study examines reports, doctrine, jurisprudence and legal document to clarify and address this problem. Construction VAT means that the purchaser of the service will handle outgoing VAT for the acquired service. The handling of the construction VAT is similar to that used in the trade of goods and services between companies in different countries within the EU. The legal framework has served its purpose, to make it less profitable to withhold tax and to become an obstacle to obtain the right to deduct VAT which will not be reported and remitted by the seller. The law of reverse charge is distinct to the majority of construction companies. The Swedish Tax Agency has issued preliminary notifications to companies where boundaries have been a problem. All of the notifications have not always been consistent with each other which are signs of problems with demarcation of the regulation.