SwedenFAR
HFD: linked share transactions trigger dividend tax
The court assessed a share transfer, redemption and bonus issue together. Sending the money to the owner’s company did not prevent dividend taxation.
By Taxxa AI OyPublished 28 August 2026
Sweden’s Supreme Administrative Court has upheld an advance ruling that a planned transfer of accumulated profits between two companies would trigger dividend taxation of the shareholder. The judgment in case 7493-25 was delivered on 25 August 2026 and concerns the particular arrangement put to the court.Domstol
The shareholder intended to transfer some shares in the profit-holding company to his wholly owned company, free or below both market value and acquisition cost. The first company would then redeem those shares at market value and restore its share capital through a bonus issue, leaving its ownership proportions unchanged.Domstol
Each step, viewed separately, would produce no tax consequences for the shareholder. The majority nevertheless assessed the linked steps together: the temporary share arrangements disappeared, while cash moved to the wholly owned company. It treated that result as the shareholder disposing of the funds, requiring dividend taxation even though he did not receive the cash personally.Domstol
The practical point for advisers is to examine the end result of interdependent transactions, alongside the tax treatment of each individual step. The ruling did not require a decision on the Tax Avoidance Act. One justice dissented and would have respected the legally valid transactions without imposing dividend tax on this basis.Domstol
Review the combined effect of linked transactions before relying on each step’s separate tax treatment.