Brussels, 24/07/2007 (Agence Europe) - Despite some modifications in the law and the recent European Court of Justice judgement, the Swedish capital gains tax legislation still continues to favour in practice the acquisition/ sale of apartments located in Sweden, therefore discriminating persons wishing to buy/sell an apartment elsewhere in Europe. On 24 July, the Commission decided to open a new infringement procedure against Sweden. If Sweden fails to comply with the letter of formal notice, the Commission may address further a reasoned opinion to Sweden before bringing the matter to the Court of Justice a second time, seeking the imposition of a penalty payment. In a press statement, EU Taxation and Customs Commissioner László Kovács declared: “A person who sells his house or apartment in any member state should not be discriminated against because he has made use of his right to free movement and bought an apartment in a state other than Sweden".
According to Swedish law, a deferral of tax is not allowed on capital gains made by a person on the sale of his private dwelling, if the dwelling which is bought or sold is situated abroad, and is not owned through a similar legal form as "privatbostadsföretag". The overwhelming majority of Swedish apartments are owned through that legal form, and there are few legal forms of ownership which are similar to the Swedish form "privatbostadsföretag" in other member states. This means that, in practice, it appears very difficult to satisfy the criteria of the Swedish law when buying or selling an apartment in another member state, and thus to benefit from the same treatment as in a purely internal situation.
The Swedish law on taxation of income (inkomstskattelagen) was changed in December 2006 after the Commission had brought the case to the Court. However, the amended rules do not fully eliminate the restriction on the free movement of persons as stated by the Court in its judgement Commission/Sweden (C-104/06 of 18 January 2007). (ol)