VAT on books
VAT on books in Sweden
Swedish readers pay 6% VAT on books, and the law names audiobooks outright. Ebooks and digital audiobooks were cut from 25% to 6% on 1 July 2019. Everything not on a reduced list pays 25%.
This is general information, not tax advice. Rates and rules change, and your own situation matters. Check with Skatteverket, the Swedish Tax Agency or an accountant before you decide.
The rates
| What you sell | Rate | Type | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Printed books | 6% | Reduced rate | Mervärdesskattelag (2023:200), chapter 9, section 9 |
| EbooksSince 1 July 2019. Before that, 25%. | 6% | Reduced rate | Mervärdesskattelag (2023:200), chapter 9, section 13 |
| AudiobooksThe law covers recordings of a book being read, on a medium or supplied electronically. | 6% | Reduced rate | Mervärdesskattelag (2023:200), chapter 9, sections 11 and 13 |
| Most other goods and services | 25% | Standard rate | Mervärdesskattelag (2023:200), chapter 9 |
What to know about Sweden
- The Riksdag cut VAT on e-publications from 25% to 6% in May 2019, in force from 1 July 2019. Riksdag finance committee report 2018/19:FiU36
- In 2021 Sweden's Supreme Administrative Court confirmed that electronically supplied books get 6% unless they are mainly moving images or music. Supreme Administrative Court, case 6978-20
- Sweden's VAT Act names audiobooks directly, as a cassette or other medium that plays a reading of a book. The electronic rule extends that to downloads. Mervärdesskattelag (2023:200)
- Sweden changed its VAT Act in 2026 to cut food to 6% for a while, but the book rules were not touched. Mervärdesskattelag (2023:200)
How EU VAT works when a reader in Sweden buys from you
Ebooks and audiobooks: the reader’s country
A download sold to a reader, not a business, is taxed where the reader lives. So a reader in Sweden pays the rate for Sweden, wherever you are. European Commission, place of taxation.
The €10,000 threshold
If your business is based in just one EU country, and your sales to readers in other EU countries stay at or under €10,000 a year (this year and last), you can charge your own country’s VAT instead. Digital sales and shipped print books count together. Sellers based outside the EU get no threshold for digital sales: VAT is due from the first sale. Commission OSS guide.
The One-Stop Shop (OSS)
Instead of registering in every country, you register once and file one return every quarter that covers all your EU sales. Your home tax office passes the VAT on to each country. EU-based sellers use the Union scheme. Sellers outside the EU use the non-Union scheme for ebooks and audiobooks. EU One-Stop Shop. OSS in plain words.
Paperbacks and hardcovers sent across a border
A printed book shipped from one EU country to a reader in another is a distance sale. It falls under the same €10,000 threshold. Over it, the rate is the one where the parcel ends up, here the rate for printed books in Sweden, and it goes on the same OSS return. Commission OSS guide.
Who charges the VAT when you sell on Lanternbee
You do. Each author connects their own Stripe account, so you are the seller and the money goes straight to you. At checkout, Stripe Tax works out the right rate for where the reader is and adds it to the order. It collects tax in the places where you have added a tax registration in Stripe, so you still register where you need to, file the returns and pay what you collected. Stripe on tax registrations.
We plan to take EU VAT on ebooks off your hands by acting as the merchant of record for digital editions. That is planned, not live. Today, you are the seller.
Questions authors ask about Sweden
What VAT do Swedish readers pay on ebooks?
6%, the same as a printed book, since 1 July 2019.
Are audiobooks taxed at 6% in Sweden?
Yes. The VAT Act puts recordings of a book being read at 6%, and the same rate applies when they are downloaded or streamed, unless the recording is mainly music.
Does a book with lots of advertising still get 6%?
No. Books, brochures and similar items that are wholly or mainly advertising pay the standard 25%.