Wellness allowance
Sweden has a tax-free wellness allowance called friskvårdsbidrag. Most employers offer it, a lot of people never use it, and if you moved here for work nobody may have explained it to you. Here is the version in plain English.
5 000 kr
is the tax-free ceiling, per person per year.
1 kr over
makes the whole amount taxable — not just the excess.
31 December
is the deadline. Nothing carries over to next year.
A tax-free wellness allowance your employer can give you for exercise and health. You pay for the activity yourself and claim it back against a receipt — or buy through the benefit portal your employer uses.
It is voluntary for the employer. But if it is offered, it has to be offered on equal terms to everyone.
Quite possibly, and a lot of people never find out. Around 85% of Swedish employers offer it. If you moved here for work, it may be in your contract or your benefits portal without ever having been explained.
Ask HR or whoever handles payroll: "Do we have friskvårdsbidrag, and how much?" It is an ordinary question.
Up to 5 000 SEK per person per year is tax-free. Your employer decides the actual amount — the Swedish average is around 2 600 SEK.
This is the rule that catches people out. Go one krona over and the entire amount becomes taxable — not just the excess.
So it is worth tracking the total of everything you claim across the year, not just the most recent purchase.
Betalar arbetsgivaren ut mer än 5 000 kronor får du betala skatt på hela friskvårdsbidraget.
On 31 December. It does not roll over — on 1 January a new amount starts and whatever you did not use is simply gone.
This is why roughly 40% of employees never use theirs fully. The money does not run out; the time does.
They can. Skatteverket puts it like this:
Note the word "can". Your employer decides what the allowance covers, and the service has to be ordinary wellness rather than something specialist. If you are unsure, ask before you buy — that is a normal question and it saves a rejected receipt.
Om du använder webbtjänster och appar som ger tillgång till träningsprogram, rådgivning och andra liknande tjänster kan det vara en skattefri förmån.
Usually one of three reasons: the purchase was equipment rather than an activity (running shoes do not qualify, a gym card does), it was a gift card rather than a service, or the receipt did not show clearly what was bought.
A receipt should carry your name, the date, what the service is, the amount, and the seller’s company name or organisation number.
Not yet. Stadika is in closed beta and does not charge — there is nothing to buy and therefore no receipt to submit.
The beta is free. When Stadika launches, the price will sit inside a normal allowance.
There is nothing to buy today. Join the list and we will be in touch when there is a place — we let people in a few at a time. The beta is free and there are no payments.