Reseavdrag (commuting deduction)
Reseavdrag is a deduction for the cost of travelling to and from work. Only the part of the year's travel cost that exceeds a threshold is deductible. It is an income deduction: it lowers your taxable income, not your tax krona for krona.
The threshold
Only travel cost above 15 000 kr per year is deductible; the threshold was raised to that level for income year 2026. If you travelled for, say, 25,000 kr, the deduction is 10,000 kr. Skatteverket subtracts the threshold automatically, so you enter your full travel cost.
Who qualifies
If you travel by public transport you can deduct the actual cost, as long as the distance is at least 2 km. For your own car the conditions are stricter: the distance must be at least 5 km and you must save at least 2 hours a day compared with public transport. You then deduct a flat amount per mil (10 km). The distance-based reseavdrag proposed earlier was never introduced; the cost-based model still applies.
The common misconception
Many people think the deduction means you get the whole deducted amount back. You do not. An income deduction lowers your taxable income, so you save your marginal tax rate on it, often around 30 to 50%. A deduction of 10,000 kr therefore typically means 3,000 to 5,000 kr less tax, not 10,000 kr.
The commuting deduction is applied before the basic deduction (grundavdrag) and does not affect the earned-income tax credit the way a tax reduction does. Keep your records: Skatteverket may ask you to show how you calculated, especially for car journeys.
Where it shows up
- Tax return