The short answer
A Swedish payslip is built from a small set of lines: bruttolön is your gross pay, skatteavdrag or preliminärskatt is the tax your employer withholds and pays on your behalf, and nettolön is what lands in the account. The tax is withheld from the first krona, so nothing arrives later as a bill if the table used is right. Semester lines matter more than they look: semesterdagar are earned days and semesterersättning is the money paid instead when a job ends. Check three things each month: the tax rate applied, the hours or the fixed salary, and any expense reimbursement, which arrives on the payslip rather than separately.
Where the payslip arrives and when the money does
The payslip is usually digital. It arrives in Kivra, in the employer's HR system or from a payroll provider, and rarely on paper. If it is not in Kivra and you expected it there, the employer may simply not use that route, which is worth asking once rather than assuming a problem.
Löneutbetalningsdag, payday, is set by the employer or by the collective agreement and is typically on the 25th, with money arriving earlier when the 25th falls on a weekend. Pay is normally for the month you have just worked, sometimes with variable parts a month behind.
Keep the payslips. They are the document a sublet landlord asks for before a contract, and the document a bank or Migrationsverket asks for, and a year of them is easier to produce than a year of bank statements with explanations attached.
| In Swedish | What it means | When you use it |
|---|---|---|
| När är löneutbetalningsdagen? | When is payday? | Ask in the first week, not the fourth. |
| Var hittar jag min lönespecifikation? | Where do I find my payslip? | Kivra, an HR portal, or an email. It varies. |
| Jag har inte fått min lön. | I haven't received my pay. | Say it plainly, the day after payday. |
| Betalas rörlig ersättning i efterskott? | Is variable pay paid a month in arrears? | Explains a first payslip that looks short. |
The lines, top to bottom
The vocabulary here overlaps with the application that got you the job, covered in the article on the Swedish CV. Bruttolön is gross pay for the period. Under it sit any OB-tillägg, the supplement for inconvenient hours, övertid for overtime, and traktamente or utlägg if you are being reimbursed for travel or expenses.
Skatteavdrag, sometimes labelled preliminärskatt or A-skatt, is the tax your employer withholds and pays to Skatteverket for you. The rate comes from the tax table for your municipality and your circumstances, which is why two colleagues on the same salary can see different deductions.
Nettolön is what reaches your account. Semesterdagar shows earned and remaining holiday days, and semesterersättning is the payment of untaken holiday, most often at the end of an employment.
Two lines are informative rather than deductions: arbetsgivaravgifter, the employer's social contributions, and the tjänstepension premium if the workplace has one. They are paid by the employer on top of your salary, not taken out of it, and their presence is one of the practical differences between a workplace with a collective agreement and one without.
| In Swedish | What it means | When you use it |
|---|---|---|
| Vad är min bruttolön? | What is my gross salary? | The figure in the contract and in the ad. |
| Hur mycket dras i skatt? | How much tax is deducted? | Ask when the net figure surprises you. |
| Har jag tjänstepension? | Do I have an occupational pension? | Not automatic. Ask before signing. |
| Hur många semesterdagar har jag kvar? | How many holiday days do I have left? | The payslip shows it. Check in spring, not in July. |
Why the tax line changes, and what to do about it
Swedish income tax is mostly municipal, so the rate depends on where you are registered as living rather than where you work. Moving from one municipality to another changes the deduction without anything else changing.
If the employer has no tax details for you, a higher flat deduction can be applied until Skatteverket's information reaches them. That is usually resolved by giving the employer your details, and any over-withholding comes back at the annual reconciliation.
The year ends with the deklaration, the tax return, which for an employee is mostly pre-filled. Kvarskatt means you owe more, skatteåterbäring means money comes back. Neither is dramatic when the monthly deduction has been right, which is the reason to check the rate early rather than in April.
| In Swedish | What it means | When you use it |
|---|---|---|
| Vilken skattetabell använder ni? | Which tax table are you using? | A precise question that gets a precise answer. |
| Jag har flyttat till en annan kommun. | I've moved to another municipality. | Tell payroll. It changes your deduction. |
| Jag har fått kvarskatt. | I've ended up owing tax. | Usually a sign the monthly rate was too low. |
| Kan ni justera skatteavdraget? | Can you adjust the tax deduction? | Possible in some cases, with Skatteverket's decision. |
Sick days, holiday and the words for being away
Sjukanmälan is reporting yourself sick, and it is done on the first day, to the employer, usually before the shift starts. The first day is normally a karensavdrag, a qualifying deduction, and from day eight a doctor's certificate is usually required.
VAB is care of a sick child, paid through Försäkringskassan rather than the employer, and it appears on the payslip as unpaid absence with the money arriving separately. The agency's role is explained here.
Föräldraledighet is parental leave, tjänstledighet is unpaid leave for another reason, and semester is holiday. They are different lines with different consequences, and the one people mix up is taking holiday when they meant to take parental leave, which costs holiday days that could have been saved.
| In Swedish | What it means | When you use it |
|---|---|---|
| Jag är sjuk idag och kan inte komma. | I'm ill today and can't come in. | Early, by the channel your workplace uses. |
| Jag behöver vabba imorgon. | I need to stay home with a sick child tomorrow. | Vabba is a real verb and everybody uses it. |
| Jag vill ta ut semester i juli. | I'd like to take holiday in July. | Ask early. July empties the country. |
| Behöver jag läkarintyg? | Do I need a doctor's certificate? | Usually from day eight, but rules vary by workplace. |
Three things to check every month
The tax rate. A deduction that jumps without a salary change usually means a table change or a registration change, and it is easier to correct in the month it happens.
Hours and supplements. If you are paid hourly, or you work evenings and weekends, compare the hours on the payslip with your own record. OB supplements are the most commonly missing line.
Reimbursements. Travel and expenses arrive through payroll in Sweden, not as a separate transfer, so a missing reimbursement looks like a smaller salary rather than a missing payment.
If something is wrong, the word is löneavvikelse and the fix is a short written message to payroll with the period, the line and the amount. Keep it factual, because the correction is administrative and usually arrives on the next payslip.
| In Swedish | What it means | When you use it |
|---|---|---|
| Det saknas OB-tillägg för helgen. | The weekend supplement is missing. | Name the period and the line. |
| Jag har fått för lite lön den här månaden. | I've been paid too little this month. | Plain, factual, in writing. |
| Kan ni kontrollera mitt utlägg för resan? | Can you check my travel expenses? | Reimbursements come through payroll here. |
| När kommer rättelsen? | When will the correction come? | Usually the next payslip. Ask for the date. |
Questions people ask
- What is a lönespecifikation?
- A Swedish payslip. It shows gross pay, supplements, the tax withheld by the employer, the net amount paid to you, and your holiday balance. It usually arrives digitally, often in Kivra or an HR portal rather than on paper.
- What is the difference between bruttolön and nettolön?
- Bruttolön is gross pay before tax, nettolön is what reaches your account after the employer has withheld preliminary tax and paid it to Skatteverket. Employer social contributions are shown for information and are paid on top of your salary rather than deducted from it.
- Why is my tax deduction different from a colleague's?
- Swedish income tax is largely municipal, so the rate follows where you are registered as living rather than where you work. Circumstances and the tax table used also differ, and an employer without your details may apply a higher flat deduction until they have them.
- What is karensavdrag?
- The qualifying deduction applied when you are off sick, which in practice removes part of the pay for the first day of absence. From the eighth day a doctor's certificate is normally required, though workplaces and collective agreements can differ.
- What do I do if my payslip is wrong?
- Write to payroll with the period, the line and the amount, using the word löneavvikelse. Corrections are routine and usually appear on the following payslip. Keep the message factual, and keep the payslips, because they are the document landlords, banks and agencies ask to see.
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