Christmas party 2026: tax, deductions and VAT for the staff party in Sweden
In Sweden, the Christmas party (julbord) is tax free for your employees, but the deduction and the VAT have their own limits per person. Here are the rules for 2026: who can come, what you can deduct, and what happens if you send the food home instead.
In Sweden, the Christmas party (julbord) is tax free for your employees, but the deduction and the VAT have their own limits per person. Here are the rules for 2026: who can come, what you can deduct, and what happens if you send the food home instead.
The Christmas party is tax free for employees
A Christmas dinner or party for your staff is internal entertainment (intern representation). It is a tax-free benefit for the employees: no tax for them and no social fee for you.
That holds when:
- You meet and eat together in a place you chose, such as the office or a restaurant.
- The party is occasional and short. A gathering can last at most a week, and can't be meetings held every week or every other week.
You can invite your employees' families, meaning spouses, partners and children living at home, and retired staff. The same tax-free rules then apply to them.
Skatteverket wants you to document the gathering: the occasion, its purpose, what it included and who came. A line in an internal document goes a long way.
Food sent home to employees is taxable
A Christmas dinner where you send the food home, for example to people who work remotely, is not internal entertainment. The food is then a taxable benefit for the employee, and you pay the social fee on it.
If you want to give something to the people who can't come, a Christmas gift is simpler. It is tax free up to 600 kr including VAT in 2026: Christmas gifts for employees 2026.
The deduction in your tax return: two parties a year
You can deduct the cost of at most two staff parties a year. Food and drink give almost no deduction. What you can deduct is mainly the venue and the entertainment.
| Internal entertainment, per person | Deduction in 2026, excluding VAT |
|---|---|
| Breakfast, lunch or dinner | 0 kr |
| Simple refreshments | 60 kr |
| Venue, entertainment and similar at staff parties | 180 kr |
The deduction needs the party to be directly linked to the business. A party for the owner's friends and family is personal hospitality, and gives no deduction.
Example: a Christmas dinner for 40 people costs 700 kr per person excluding VAT for food and drink. The venue and music cost 8,000 kr excluding VAT.
- The food gives 0 kr in deductions.
- The venue and music give at most 180 kr per person, so 7,200 kr of the 8,000.
VAT: at most 300 kr per person
VAT follows its own limits. They apply if your business is registered for VAT.
- Food and drink: you can deduct the VAT on at most 300 kr excluding VAT per person and occasion.
- Venue, music and similar: you can deduct the VAT on at most 180 kr excluding VAT per person and occasion.
If the meal includes alcohol and costs more than 300 kr excluding VAT per person, you can use a flat amount instead of splitting the VAT. It is 46 kr per person, or 33 kr if the VAT on the food is 6%.
In the example above, with wine with the food, that's 46 kr times 40 people: 1,840 kr in VAT deductions for the food.
December in CLVR Benefits
The Christmas party doesn't go through the benefit allowance. But December has its own rules for benefits too, and that's where CLVR Benefits helps:
- The Christmas gift. A Christmas gift is tax free up to 600 kr including VAT. Check your gift in our guide. CLVR Benefits has no ready-made Christmas gift feature, but we can add the gift to your benefits store, so employees choose for themselves.
- Wellness closes in December. Wellness expenses from December count towards next year. So the platform closes new wellness uploads in December and tells the employee why: Wellness allowance 2026.
The short version
- A Christmas dinner or party is tax free for employees when you meet and eat together.
- Families and retired staff can come on the same terms.
- Food sent home is taxable.
- A deduction for at most two parties a year. Food: 0 kr. Venue and entertainment: at most 180 kr per person.
- VAT on at most 300 kr per person for the food, and 180 kr for the venue and entertainment.
Sources
- Skatteverket: Kostförmån, personalfester och intern representation: the exemption, families, one week, food sent home, documentation and two parties a year.
- Skatteverket: Belopp och procent 2026: the 0, 60 and 180 kr deductions per person.
- Skatteverket: Avdrag för moms vid representation: 300 and 180 kr per person, and the flat 46 or 33 kr.
- Skatteverket: Julgåvor och julbord, 13 October 2026.
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