{"id":1099,"date":"2025-02-11T09:09:51","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T09:09:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leyton.majjane.agency\/se\/insights\/articles\/the-rd-investigation-report\/"},"modified":"2025-02-11T09:09:40","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T09:09:40","slug":"the-rd-investigation-report","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leyton.com\/se\/en\/insights\/articles\/the-rd-investigation-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Swedish R&D investigation report"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A wake-up call for companies claiming R&D tax relief with no specific approach\u202f\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SOU 2025:3 report, released on January 15, 2025, is the conclusion of a one-year investigation into Sweden’s R&D tax relief framework, revealing critical risks and pressing challenges that demand attention from companies currently claiming the deduction. While the report offers promising solutions for the future, it also sheds critical light on the current situation, drawing on insights from both Skatteverket and market feedback. For companies currently claiming R&D tax relief, this report serves as a crucial wake-up call, highlighting significant risks, which should lead to actions to secure their claims.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Increasing number of audits\u00a0\u00a0<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The report mentions that over the years, Skatteverket’s approach in assessing R&D deductions has evolved; with recent years witnessing an increase in the number of audits. Presently, the agency allocates around 40,000<\/strong> working hours annually \u2014equivalent to 27 FTEs \u2014 specifically for auditing R&D deductions. There are no official statistics on the frequency of full or partial denial of R&D claims following audits. However, the report mentions that Skatteverket estimates that around 80-90 percent of audits result in some form of change.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This high rate of changes should alarm companies that are currently making claims on their own without proper technical and financial justification.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Complex rules\u00a0<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The SOU 2025:3 report underscores that both companies and Skatteverket case officers find the R&D deduction rules challenging to apply. From the outset, the legal definitions of “research” and “development” have differed significantly from the common business interpretations, creating a gap in understanding and compliance.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Skatteverket case officers:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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