The Swedish Tax Agency pays 1.12 percent in interest on the money you have in your tax account. That interest is tax-free. So translated into bank interest that you pay tax on, it corresponds to 1.6 percent.
On a regular savings account at the major banks, the interest rate is zero. It is true that it is possible to get in the region of 1.6 percent if the money is locked up for at least three months. Some niche banks may also have an interest rate of around one percent or so.
But few people give the government a thumbs up. And in the Swedish Tax Agency's tax account, you can freely deposit and withdraw money whenever you want, even if a written procedure is required for withdrawals.
50 billion
The purpose of the tax account is not to deposit savings with the Swedish Tax Agency. The idea of the individual tax account is to regulate refunds or debts/payments of tax.
It can feel good for someone who knows that they have a large back tax to pay, that if you make your payment of 300,000 or 50,000, and it turns out that I have deposited a little too much, then I will at least get income interest, says Johan Schauman.
But much of the total SEK 140 billion, from both households and companies, that is deposited in tax accounts is also pure capital investments. The Swedish Financial Management Agency estimates that it is in the order of SEK 50 billion, mostly from companies.
Stopped
The sum really went up about ten years ago when the Swedish Riksbank was running a negative interest rate and it was generally difficult to get interest on the money. This meant that companies and to some extent households deposited the liquid surplus with the Swedish Tax Agency where it was still possible to get interest. And it involved large amounts, so large that the government put a stop to it and lowered the tax rate to zero.
But then interest rates went up again and now it is possible again to get a better interest rate from the state. From 2022 onwards, the interest rate on deposits in the tax account has been higher than at the banks, the Swedish National Debt Office notes.
The savings interest rate on the tax account is determined by the so-called base interest rate, which is based on the average of the interest rate on six-month treasury bills.
Olle Lindström/TT
Facts: Some banks' savings interest rates
TT
Major banks' salary accounts - 0 percent.
Big banks' savings accounts - 0 percent.
The major banks' fixed-term savings accounts (money locked up for at least 3 months) - approximately 1.5-1.8 percent.
Some niche banks' savings interest rates, examples:
SBAB savings account - 1.25 percent.
Skandiabanken, salary and savings account - 0.20 percent.
Niche banks' fixed-term savings accounts - 2-2.90 percent.
