SwedenSkatteverket
Municipality procuring personal assistance itself may claim LEMK compensation
New guidance: a municipality that procures personal assistance itself may claim schablon compensation for exempt social care or input-VAT compensation under 2 § LEMK for taxable staff hire.
By Taxxa AI OyPublished 12 October 2026
Industry: Regulation of the activities of providing health care, education, cultural services and other social services, excluding social security
The new guidance covers the case where a municipality does not pay financial support to the individual
Skatteverket but procures services itselfSkatteverket and takes responsibility for personal assistance being carried outSkatteverket. In that situation a right to compensation under lagen (2005:807) om ersättning för viss mervärdesskatt för kommuner, regioner, kommunalförbund och samordningsförbund (LEMK) may ariseSkatteverket.
Where the municipality decides on assistance in the form of personal assistance and contracts with a provider that independently — with its own organisation and responsibility — supplies the service, the starting point is an independent supply of social careSkatteverket (jfr HFD 2024 not. 38). Such services are exempt from VAT under 10 kap. 14 § mervärdesskattelagenSkatteverket. Because an exempt supply carries no right to deduct input VATSkatteverket, the municipality may instead qualify for lump-sum (schablon) compensation for the hidden VAT cost embedded in the procured exempt serviceSkatteverket. This requires that the municipality counts as contracting party and recipient of the service for VAT purposesSkatteverket.
Where instead the provider places staff at the municipality's disposal and does not act independently because the work is led and organised by the municipality, the supply is taxable staff hire (personaluthyrning)Skatteverket. The municipality may then apply for compensation for the input VAT charged on the provider's supply under 2 § LEMKSkatteverket.
The guidance also updates a representation-meals reference: Skatteverket's ställningstagande on VAT deductions for refreshments in connection with representation has been replaced by a new statement of the same name, and the old link was removed. The new statement makes no substantive change but also covers how to compute the deduction where a refreshment expense carries the 6 per cent rate; the Representationskostnader page describes it in more detail.
What the guidance says throughout applies to municipalities, regions, municipal associations and coordination associations alike. A municipality that itself procures and takes responsibility for personal assistance should check which of the two classifications its arrangement meets — independent exempt social care with possible schablon compensation, or taxable staff hire with input-VAT compensation under 2 § LEMK —Skatteverket and ensure it stands as contracting party and recipient of the serviceSkatteverket.
Legal basis: Skatteverkets rättsliga vägledning Kommunerna m.fl., section Kommun som själv upphandlar och ansvarar för att personlig assistans utförs (2026-10-12); lag (2005:807) om ersättning för viss mervärdesskatt för kommuner, regioner, kommunalförbund och samordningsförbund; 10 kap. 14 § mervärdesskattelagen.
Check whether the municipality's self-procured personal assistance is an independent exempt supply of social care or taxable staff hire, and claim schablon compensation or input-VAT compensation under 2 § LEMK accordingly.