Dividend allowance (gränsbelopp)
Gränsbelopp is how much you can take as a dividend from your close company (fåmansföretag) while paying only 20% tax on it. Dividends above the gränsbelopp are taxed harder. This is the heart of the so-called 3:12 rules.
How it is calculated (2026)
Since the 2026 reform the gränsbelopp is worked out with a single formula. You start with a base amount of 4 income base amounts (322 400 kr), split by your ownership share. If you have employees, a wage-based amount is added: 50% of your share of the company’s total wages, after a standard deduction of 8 income base amounts (644 800 kr). On top comes a return on the capital you invested, plus any saved gränsbelopp from earlier years.
What the reform changed
Until 2025 there were two ways to calculate: the simplification rule (a flat amount) and the main rule (the wage-based one). From income year 2026 they are merged into one rule for all owners. The old requirement of at least 4% ownership for the wage-based amount is gone, and the earlier salary-withdrawal requirement (that you had to pay yourself a certain salary) is gone too. The waiting period (karenstid) after you stop working in the company, before your shares stop counting as qualified, was shortened from five years to four.
What happens above the gränsbelopp
Dividends within the gränsbelopp are taxed at 20%. Dividends above it are taxed as employment income (your ordinary marginal rate) up to a ceiling, and thereafter as ordinary capital income at 30%. That is why it rarely pays to take out more than your gränsbelopp in a single year; unused room is saved for future years instead.
Where it shows up
- 3:12 calculator
- Net salary calculator (own limited company)
If you take a smaller dividend than your gränsbelopp, the difference is not lost, it becomes saved dividend allowance (sparat utdelningsutrymme) you can use later. Many new companies build up gränsbelopp for a few years and take a larger low-taxed dividend once the company can carry it.