Enhanced short-term furlough
The reinforced short-term furlough scheme means that companies will be able to reduce the working hours of their employees by up to 80 percent during the period January – March 2021.
In addition to the previous criteria needing to be met, concerning, among other things, temporary and severe financial difficulties, for the enhanced short-term furlough scheme of 80 percent, it is required that the company needs to reduce working hours by precisely 80 percent.
During short-term furloughs of 80 percent, the state will cover 75 percent of the cost of the reduction in working hours. The employer's salary costs will be reduced by 72 percent, and the employee will simultaneously retain 88 percent of their normal salary.
The enhanced rules on short-term furloughs came into effect on 15 February 2021, however the enhancement will apply to a work reduction of 80 percent already from 1 January 2021, and will be valid up to and including 31 March 2021.
However, short-term furloughs of 60%, 40%, or 20% will still be available during the period of 1 April 2021 – 30 June 2021. For this period, however, the state will only cover 50% of the cost of the reduced working hours, compared to the previous 75%.
Further possibility of deferring tax payments
On 5 February 2021, an extended and strengthened deferral option came into effect. The rules apply, as before, to deferrals for businesses regarding payment of employer contributions, preliminary income tax on wages, and VAT.
Under de nya reglerna kan företag nu ansöka om uppskov för redovisningsperioder som infaller i oktober, november och december 2020. Företagen har dessutom möjlighet att skjuta upp skatteinbetalningar för sex månader istället för tidigare tre månader.
The total deferral period is extended to two years, meaning that companies, in other words, have the option to apply for an extension of the deferral period by one year. As previously, it is possible to apply for the deferral retroactively, which means that tax already paid during 2020 can be refunded. As before, a cost interest and a deferral fee will be charged on the deferred amount.
It is already possible to apply for a deferral under the new rules.
Enhanced transition support for small businesses
Through enhanced transition support, companies that have experienced a significant drop in turnover during the periods November-December and January-February will be able to have up to 90 percent of their fixed costs reimbursed. The support will be available to smaller companies with neither a balance sheet total nor a turnover exceeding approximately 100 million Swedish kronor per year, and with fewer than 50 employees.
The support is divided into three time periods spread across August-October 2020, November-December 2020, and January-February 2021. There has also been a proposal that the transition support should be extended with the months of March and April, which will each constitute their own support period.
The table below outlines the transitional support for the three different time periods for small and large businesses respectively:
August to October period
Small businesses – a turnover loss of at least 40 %is required, support of 75 % of the actual turnover loss is provided.
Large companies – a turnover loss of at least 40 %is required, support of 70 % is granted based on the actual turnover loss.
November – December period
Small businesses A revenue loss of at least 30 %is required, and support of 90 % of the actual revenue loss is provided.
Large companies – a revenue loss of at least 30 %is required, support of 70 % is provided by the actual revenue loss.
January – February period
Small businesses A revenue loss of at least 30 %is required, and support of 90 % of the actual revenue loss is provided.
Large companies – a revenue loss of at least 30 %is required, support of 70 % is provided by the actual revenue loss.
The new rules concerning the transitional support will come into effect on 25 February and companies will be able to apply for the support between 25 February and 30 April 2021.
News! Lockdown support
The new support is aimed at companies that, as a result of closure decisions made under the new pandemic law, are unable to continue their operations and have experienced at least a 30 per cent drop in turnover. To be granted the support, it is still required that the closure is the cause of the decline in turnover.
The new shutdown support means that companies that lost all their turnover during a shutdown will be able to have their fixed costs covered by 100 percent, with a maximum ceiling of SEK 75 million per company and month.
In a similar way to the transition support, the size of the turnover loss is crucial for how much shutdown support companies are eligible for. A turnover loss of less than 100 percent of turnover will, in other words, result in not being eligible for compensation for 100 percent of your fixed costs.
If a company applies for a shutdown subsidy for a period for which they have already received a turnover subsidy, the shutdown subsidy will be reduced by the corresponding amount.
As compensation requires that closures have occurred as a result of a decision made under the Pandemic Act, the new support will apply for the duration that the Pandemic Act is in force.
