Accounting for car care and car servicing

Staff register for vehicle servicing

Vehicle servicing is one of the industries required to keep a staff register. This means the maintenance and repair of motor vehicles. The Tax Agency gives as examples repairs, paintwork, bodywork, glass work, washing and reconditioning, as well as wheel changes and tyre services. Car washes and valeting are therefore covered. The register records every day who is working on the premises and when, including people who are not employees.

You do not need to keep a register if you run a sole trader business (enskild firma) where only you, your spouse and children under 16 work, or a close company (fåmansföretag) where only the person running the company and the same family members work. If vehicle servicing makes up less than 25 per cent of turnover, for example in a shop that also changes tyres, no register is needed. Read more at the Tax Agency.

Inspection fees

• SEK 12 500 per inspection, plus SEK 2 500 for each working person who is not recorded
• SEK 25 000 instead of SEK 12 500 if a new shortcoming is found within one year of a previous decision

Cash register

If customers pay in cash or by card, sales must be registered in a certified cash register that has been reported to the Tax Agency, and the customer must be offered a receipt. If you invoice customers instead, for example businesses with an account, the requirement does not apply to those sales. There is also an exemption when sales paid in cash or by card are insignificant, normally no more than four price base amounts (prisbasbelopp) per year. If there is no cash register, the inspection fee is SEK 12 500 per inspection.

VAT on car care and car servicing

Washing, valeting, tyre changes and garage work are charged at the standard VAT rate of 25 per cent. The lower 12 per cent VAT rate for certain repairs applies to bicycles, shoes, leather goods, clothing and household linen, not cars. If you sell tyres and parts, these are booked as sales of goods and may need to be valued as stock in the year-end accounts. We reconcile the cash register's daily reports and card settlements against the books, so that the VAT return is based on the same figures as the cash register shows.

How we help car care and car servicing businesses

• Ongoing bookkeeping with reconciliation against the cash register and card settlements
• Payroll and employer declarations, see payroll
• Routines for the staff register and cash register
• Year-end closing, annual report and tax return

A fixed monthly price based on the number of vouchers and employees, no lock-in period, three months' notice. See prices or read about bookkeeping in Gothenburg. If you also sell cars, there is a separate page for car dealers.