Capital gains tax (kapitalvinstskatt)
Kapitalvinstskatt is the tax you pay when you sell an investment for more than you paid for it, in a regular (taxable) account. Gains in the “capital” income type are taxed at a flat 30%. Unlike an ISK, you are taxed only when you actually sell, and only on the profit.
Only on realised gains
The key word is realised. Simply holding an investment that has risen in value is not taxed; the tax lands in the year you sell. That gives you a useful lever, you get to choose when to take the gain, which is the opposite of an ISK, where a small charge falls every year no matter what.
Losses count too
If you sell at a loss, you can set it off against your gains (kvittning), and a net loss gives a partial tax reduction against your other capital income. So the flat 30% is not the whole story, what you are really taxed on is your net result for the year.
Where it shows up
- Capital gains (K4)
- Rebalancing
- Withdrawal strategy
This 30%-when-you-sell world is the depåkonto (regular brokerage). An ISK swaps it for a small yearly schablon charge instead. Which one wins comes down to how much your holdings grow: strong growth usually favours the ISK, uncertain or short-term money often favours the regular account.