The Return of Skatteverket

I received my property tax declaration from the nice people at Skatteverket, the Swedish tax authorities.

Readers of this blog with long memories may remember that I received my last one almost three years ago.

It was quite straightforward; essentially all it asked was if I had made any changes to the property which may have increased its value. Instructions in English were available online.

The list of things impacting the value of a house are wide-ranging. Besides basic things like the size of the house and its construction material, there are others: How close is it to the water? Does it have a basement, a heating system, a garage, a flush toilet, a second floor? How nice is the kitchen?

Actually, the kitchen question was relevant for us this time around. After reading the description, it was clear that our kitchen is now a "normal standard," so I made that change on this declaration.

I did note that adding a värmepump won't change the value of the house for tax purposes. In fact, nothing I would realistically do to our little stuga would move it into a higher tax bracket, thankfully.

Next year should be the first year I will have to pay property taxes on our house. I think my bill should be in the range of 5 to 6 thousand kronor ($600-800). This depends, of course, to no changes to the Swedish tax code in the meantime. So we shall see...