Pension deduction ceiling rises to 592,000 kronor for 2026

Employers that promise occupational pensions (tjänstepension) to staff can deduct the cost already when the promise is secured in one of four approved security forms. Two of the four forms are payment of a tjänstepensionsförsäkring premium and a balance-sheet provision under the tryggandelagen combined with credit insurance or with a municipal or state guarantee or similar guarantee. The other two are a transfer to a pensionsstiftelse and a transfer to certain foreign occupational pension institutions. Without qualifying security in one of those forms, the deduction waits until the pension is paid out, when the general rules for staff costs apply.

For fiscal years that ended during 2026, the main rule (huvudregeln) caps the deduction per employeeSkatteverket at the actual pension costSkatteverket, but no more than 35 per cent of salarySkatteverket and no more than 10 prisbasbeloppSkatteverket, which is 592,000 kronorSkatteverket. The 35 per cent and 10-base-amount limits are independent of the length of the fiscal year and are not apportioned for short years. Salary means the pension-qualifying remuneration under the pension agreement, so for example a car benefit counts when the agreement makes it pension-qualifying. The employer is free to compute the cap from the employee's salary in its current fiscal year or in the preceding fiscal year. The ceiling is per employee: unused room for one person cannot cover an excess for another, and any cost above the caps is not deductible, not even in a later yearSkatteverket. The capped amount covers old-age, sickness and survivor's pensions together, including any premium-exemption insurance. The deduction can never exceed the cost of the promise givenSkatteverket; when securing the promise costs less than the caps, that lower cost is the ceilingSkatteverket.

Separate limits also apply to balance-sheet provisions under the tryggandelagen and transfers to a pensionsstiftelse.

The supplementary rule (kompletteringsregeln) allows a deduction above the main-rule ceiling only in two situations: a pension agreement is changed or a new agreement is concluded in connection with early departure from employment, or the pension promises are insufficiently securedSkatteverket. For old-age pensions it is then limited to the cost of reaching the highest pension benefit (högsta pensionsförmånen) under a statutory tableSkatteverket, and only costs secured in one of the four approved forms countSkatteverket. The benefit accrues continuously until retirement age over at least 30 years, and only the part earned by the end of the fiscal year counts; the value of old-age pension already secured by the current or a previous employer during the year or earlier in an approved form is subtracted.

For fiscal years that ended during 2026 the table gives 80 per cent for pensions starting at age 55–64 and 20 per cent from age 65 on salary of 0–444 000 kronorSkatteverket. On salary of 444 001–1 184 000 kronor both columns give 70 per centSkatteverket, and on salary of 1 184 001–1 776 000 kronor both give 40 per centSkatteverket. The salary bands track 7.5, 20 and 30 prisbasbelopp for the calendar year in which the fiscal year endedSkatteverket. Costs for old-age pension promises on salary above 30 prisbasbelopp are not deductible at allSkatteverket. Survivor's pension costs are in principle fully deductible.

An employer that merely holds a kapitalförsäkring to back a pension promise has no qualifying security: that insurance is not one of the deductible security forms, though payouts falling to the employer from it are not taxed. The operative figures for 2026 follow from the statutory prisbasbelopp of 59,200 kronor for 2026Svenskforfattningssamling.

Legal basis: 28 kap. inkomstskattelagen (1999:1229), 2 kap. socialförsäkringsbalken and förordning 2025:872 on the 2026 prisbasbelopp.