Bankruptcy duties redrawn: VAT to bankruptcy date, returns to deregistration

Representatives of an aktiebolag heading into konkurs face a narrower running tax duty but a longer tail on the income return. Value-added tax and employer contributions must be reported and paid up to the date of the bankruptcySkatteverket, while the company's inkomstdeklaration must cover the period until the company is deregistered with BolagsverketSkatteverket — and that final fiscal year can be shortened, pulling the filing date forward.

Konkurs is one of several ways to close an aktiebolag, alongside liquidation, sale and succession to the next generation, and operations can also be paused by making the company vilande. When debts cannot be paid, the company is put into bankruptcy on application to the tingsrätt by the company itself or by a creditor. The court decides on the bankruptcy and appoints a konkursförvaltare, and Skatteverket deregisters the company's F-skatt, VAT and employer registrations. The trustee decides whether operations continue, and any continued operations run under a konkursbonummer.

The representative's own duties around the bankruptcy are now drawn more tightly than before. Where the page previously said the company's skatter och avgifter had to be reported and paid until the bankruptcy dateSkatteverket, it now names moms- och arbetsgivaravgifterSkatteverket. The income declaration obligation runs longer: it must be filed for the period until the company is deregistered with Bolagsverket. Because deregistration can cut the last räkenskapsår shortSkatteverket, the final return may fall due earlier than usualSkatteverket — the filing deadline always follows the point when the fiscal year endsSkatteverket, so a year ending in June lands on a different date than one ending in December.

The duty to declare survives the wind-up itself: aktiebolag and ekonomiska föreningar must declare after every fiscal year even with no operations, no taxable income, or while under liquidation or bankruptcy, merger or divisionSkatteverket. Skatteverket's declaration timetable shows how the end of the fiscal year fixes the last filing day, and confirms that when a company is wound up and deregistered the final year can sometimes be shortenedSkatteverket, requiring the last return at an earlier point than otherwiseSkatteverket.

By contrast, a liquidation keeps the broader duty alive longer: until the liquidator appointed by Bolagsverket replaces the board and managing director, the representative must continue reporting and paying the company's taxes and chargesSkatteverket. Liquidation counts as a sale, so shareholders declare their shares in their own returns; in bankruptcy the sale price is zero. Company books and records must be kept for seven years after the end of the last tax year, and any personalliggare for two years.

Neglect carries personal risk: a representative who has been careless with payments, acted intentionally or with gross negligence can become personally liable for taxes and chargesSkatteverket and may find it harder to start a new business.

Legal basis: konkurs and wind-up filing duties under Swedish tax procedure and company registration rules, detailed in Skatteverket's guidance on closing an aktiebolag and on declaring for an aktiebolag or ekonomisk förening.