Collection of duty and other charges

Swedish Customs is responsible for determining and collecting customs duties, taxes and other tariffs when goods are imported into Sweden from a country outside the EU. There are no customs duties within the EU because we are part of a common customs union. All countries in the EU impose common customs duties on countries outside the EU.

Sweden is part of a customs union with the other EU countries. Within the Union, tariffs and other barriers to trade have been removed and common tariffs have been imposed on countries that are not in the Union. In principle, this means that you only have to pay customs duties and other charges for goods you purchase in or from countries outside the EU.

Swedish Customs is responsible for determining and collecting customs duties, taxes and charges in connection with the import and export of goods. Collection must be correct and help to finance the public sector. The aim is to reduce tax and collection deficits. To obtain a more uniform view of tax deficit within the area of operation of the Swedish Customs, an assessment needs to be made of both collection losses in the legal flow of goods and the hidden amounts of illegal imports of alcohol and tobacco. Together these make up the total tax deficit.

It is a challenge to simplify and streamline customs procedures while monitoring and controlling the flow of goods across the border. This requires Swedish Customs to be able to simplify procedures for those businesses and individuals who get it “right first time” while detecting those who get it wrong. The aim is to ensure that the legal flow of goods across borders is not unnecessarily disrupted. Instead, resources should be concentrated on controlling what needs to be controlled. We will “disrupt those who should be disrupted”.

One way to reduce tax and collection errors is to ensure that controls are carried out properly and with good quality. This in turn requires good analytical methods for assessing the risk on which controls are based. Swedish Customs is tasked with developing its analytical activities to improve the accuracy of controls. In addition, collection resources will be concentrated on areas with a high risk of tax errors.

Preventive information and services explaining the customs procedure also help to reduce tax and collection errors. Customs should help legitimate businesses by making it easy for them to do the right thing and by protecting them from unfair competition from businesses that have gained an advantage by deliberately making errors.

Other elements of prevention include proposing changes to the law, providing information that is easy to understand, developing simple forms and collaborating in various ways, for example with trade associations. We will continue to develop electronic services and become more standardised, while making information as user-friendly as possible.

Cooperation

A changing world that is increasingly international and mobile requires new risks to be identified. To manage risks in the world around us, we need to develop both national and international cooperation. The cross-border flow of goods, an increasingly globalised economy and Sweden's membership of the EU mean that Swedish Customs must work internationally to ensure correct collection of duties and a safe flow of goods. In its international cooperation, Swedish Customs must work to ensure that the international approach is guided by its mission to collect what is due and that restrictions in the area of environment, safety and health are complied with.

Swedish Customs constantly develops working methods and forms of cooperation for international operations in such a way that its objectives can be achieved, that it can participate in influencing the development of legislation, and that the exchange of information within the EU and with other international partners such as the World Customs Organization (WCO) and free trade areas increases. The international agenda, together with the country-by-country strategy of Swedish Customers, forms the basis for focusing and prioritising international cooperation

International engagement should also simplify the administration involved in customs procedures to make it easier for individuals and businesses to get it right the first time. We do this, for example, by actively participating in areas such as electronic customs management (e-Customs).

Legislation

In the Legislative Support section, you can read about EU legislation, national legislation and various regulations implemented by authorities that form the basis for our work.