The risk tax: It is positive to get the compensation, but an exemption is still necessary

The Government today tabled its Budget Bill for 2023. Regarding the risk tax, one of the most important issues for the municipal sector, the Government's line is both positive and negative.

When the decision on the risk tax was made in December 2021, the Riksdag (the Swedish Parliament) adopted a declaration on municipal collaboration. The Riksdag called on the previous Government to, no later than 1 October 2022, present a proposal to ensure that municipal collaboration through Kommuninvest is no longer targeted by the tax from 1 January 2023. The Riksdag also called on the previous Government to create a solution for 2022 where the municipal sector is compensated for the extra costs that the taxation of municipal collaboration through Kommuninvest entails.

The reason behind the declaration, which was adopted in unison by the Riksdag, was that it is unreasonable to tax municipal collaboration through Kommuninvest. This is a credit institution which finances investments in the welfare sector, operates at very low risk levels and is guaranteed by the owners: 294 municipalities and regions. That is not the type of activity that the risk tax should be aimed at.

The previous Government delivered a compensation to the municipal sector, of SEK 300 million, but not the exemption for municipal collaboration through Kommuninvest.

In today´s Budget Bill, the new Government delivers a compensation. In the proposed increase of the general government grants to the municipal sector of SEK 6 billion, the compensation for the risk tax is included as an integral part. The increase, and thereby the compensation, covers the period 2023-2025. The Government, on the other hand, does not deliver an exemption.

– The compensation is a positive step along the way, but the exemption still has to be implemented. The Riksdag's line was that municipal collaboration through Kommuninvest should not be burdened by this tax, says Linda Frohm, Vice Chairman of Kommuninvest Cooperative Society.

– We expect the Government, where all parties supported the Riksdag's declaration, to within the next few months complete the process to create an exemption for municipal collaboration through Kommuninvest. This is entirely possible. We have pointed at several possible solutions for an exemption and have had a constructive dialogue with the European Commission on the issue. To start with, we assume that the opposition parties will launch proposals for an exemption in their budget motions, says Göran Färm, Chairman of Kommuninvest Cooperative Society.

For further information

Tomas Werngren, CEO, tel: +46 70 645 06 69, e-mail: tomas.werngren@kommuninvest.se

David Ljung, Head of Communications, tel: +46 73 068 45 45, e-mail: david.ljung@kommuninvest.se