Accounting for transport companies

Bookkeeping for hauliers: equity determines the transport licence

To obtain a commercial transport licence for goods or passengers by bus, the company must have capital and reserves of at least EUR 9 000 for the first vehicle and EUR 5 000 for each additional vehicle. The Swedish Transport Agency (Transportstyrelsen) sets the exchange rate in kronor ahead of each year. In 2026 this is equivalent to SEK 99 360 and SEK 55 200 respectively. The capital must cover all vehicles in the business, and the requirement is assessed again when you add vehicles. With five lorries, you therefore need SEK 320 160.

The figures must be based on the most recently prepared annual accounts and be certified by an approved or authorised auditor or an authorised accounting consultant. This is why the year-end closing needs to be finished and the balance sheet needs to show the correct equity before you buy the next vehicle. We monitor the margin against the requirement in the bookkeeping and prepare the accounts that the certification is based on.

Fees to the Transport Agency

• SEK 12 500 for an application for a commercial transport licence
• SEK 3 100 per year in supervision fees for licence holders
• SEK 500 per vehicle per year for supervision of driving and rest times

The company must also be approved for F-tax (F-skatt) and registered for VAT. Read more in our guide to transport licences and at the Transport Agency.

Transport manager with professional competence

The company must have at least one transport manager who has passed the written professional competence test set by the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket). The transport manager must actually run the transport operations and have a genuine link to the company, as an employee, owner, board member or consultant under an agreement. If the transport manager is replaced, this must be reported to the Transport Agency.

If you want to become a transport manager yourself, the Eget på Väg course prepares you for the goods test and Yrkeskunnande buss for the bus test. Read more about professional competence for goods transport. If the company does not have its own transport manager, you can engage a consultant transport manager through us for goods or bus operations, from SEK 2 900/month.

Vehicles, depreciation and VAT on fuel

Lorries, buses and trailers used in the business are equipment and are depreciated. Under the main rule for depreciation in line with the accounts, you may depreciate no more than 30 per cent of the book value per year. The supplementary rule instead gives full depreciation over five years, 20 per cent per year. Equipment costing less than half a price base amount (prisbasbelopp), SEK 29 600 for the 2026 income year, is deducted immediately.

You may deduct the VAT on fuel and other running costs, such as servicing, repairs and vehicle inspections. Courier firms need to keep an eye on one thing: a van-bodied lorry without a separate driver's cab counts as a passenger car under the VAT Act if its gross weight is no more than 3 500 kilos, as does a bus of no more than 3 500 kilos. In that case you normally may not deduct the VAT on the purchase, and if you lease the vehicle you may deduct 50 per cent. A flatbed lorry with a separate driver's cab does not count as a passenger car, regardless of weight. Read more about cars and VAT at the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket).

Road charges and congestion tax

Lorries with a gross weight of at least 12 tonnes, or at least 7 tonnes with a towing device, must pay a road charge. The charge is levied for one year at a time and must be paid before the lorry may be used. Congestion tax and road, bridge and ferry charges on business journeys are deductible. We accrue the annual charges so that each month carries its share of the cost.

VAT on goods transport, passenger transport and removals

Goods transport within Sweden carries 25 per cent VAT, while passenger transport by bus and taxi normally carries 6 per cent. If you sell a goods transport service to a business in another EU country, the main rule applies: the service is taxed where the buyer is established, you do not charge Swedish VAT and you report the sale in box 39 and in an EC Sales List (periodisk sammanställning). Passenger transport is exempt from the main rule and has its own rules. If you run a taxi business, there is a separate page for taxi companies.

Removal firms can offer the RUT deduction, because removal services count as RUT work. The deduction is no more than 50 per cent of the labour cost, and you apply for the payment from the Tax Agency no later than 31 January of the year after the customer paid. Read more about ROT and RUT deductions.

Drivers, subsistence allowances and collective agreements

If a driver stays overnight on a business trip more than 50 kilometres from their usual place of work and their home, you can pay a tax-free subsistence allowance. For 2026 the standard amount in Sweden is SEK 300 for a full day and SEK 150 for a half day. The night allowance of SEK 150 may only be paid tax-free if the driver has had accommodation expenses, and the actual cost of accommodation can be reimbursed against a receipt. As supporting documentation you need a travel expense claim showing, among other things, the times the trip started and ended. Read more about subsistence allowances at the Tax Agency.

If the company follows a collective agreement, we set up the agreement's rules on pay and allowances in the payroll system, so that taxable and tax-free amounts are kept separate in the employer declaration. More on driving and rest times and on the role of safety adviser for dangerous goods can be found at YK Kurser.

How we help transport companies

• Ongoing bookkeeping with vehicles, fuel and charges in the right accounts
• Monitoring of equity against the capital requirement for the transport licence
• Payroll, subsistence allowances and employer declarations
• VAT on goods and passenger transport and sales to other EU countries
• Year-end closing, annual report and tax return
• Applications for transport licences and dealings with authorities

Fixed monthly price based on the number of vouchers and employees, no lock-in period, three months' notice. See prices.