Paying salary to au pair in Sweden with RUT tax deduction

An au pair can be a great solution for busy families. But how does it work when it comes to paying salary, handling tax and tax deduction when employing an au pair in Sweden? Diretto.se is a payroll bureau for handling tax and tax deduction for house hold staff in Sweden. We will go through the rules and give you an example

The au pair’s salary and benefits are taxable but you can get tax deduction

The au pair’s salary and benefits are taxable in Sweden. Free food and free housing are defined as benefits. The value of these benefits are set by the tax authorities to 1500 sek for free food and 600 sek for free housing per month. There are two types of tax on salary in Sweden; income tax and employer tax.

The income tax is deducted from the au pair’s gross salary. The employer tax is a tax on top of the gross salary and it’s paid by the family. However, the family can get a tax deduction for their part of the tax, it’s called RUT-deduction. Each adult has an allowance of 75,000 sek for RUT deductions provided the income in Sweden is sufficient. It’s the family /employer who needs to deduct and forward the au pair’s income tax to the tax authorities. Here is an example of an au pair’s salary calculation:

Income tax for an au pair in Sweden range from 0-25%

The income tax level for an au pair working in Sweden vary depending on a few factors:

Lowest tax when no salary from another country

The lowest level of tax applies to an au pair who does not receives a salary in another country during the same tax year as being an au pair in Sweden. It will be 0-10% income tax to deduct from the salary. Zero tax applies when arriving late in the year (or leaving early) and making less than 20,000 sek in one tax year (but the salary does need to be declared). The au pair need to make a statement in their tax return in order to get this lowest level of tax.

“Medium level” of tax – longer than 6 months and income from another country

An au pair who receives a salary from another country and stays in Sweden for more then 6 months will have a tax level of approximately 14-19%. It depends on salary level and if the stay in Sweden covers one or two tax years

Highest level of tax when staying shorter than 6 months and salary from another country

The highest level of tax would be paid by an au pair who stays in Sweden for a shorter period of time than 183 days and who has an income from another country in the same tax year. For example the au pair works 5 month in Sweden and then goes back to the home country to work. In this case the SINK-tax would be the most beneficial and it’s 25%.

Avoid contracts with net salary in Sweden

The Swedish tax system is based on agreements on gross income. This is because the tax level depend on many factors which are not controlled by the employer. If the employer pays the salary on behalf of the au pair instead of deducting it from the gross salary this compensation also needs to be taxed.

Use Diretto for handling the tax and rut-deduction for your au pair

Diretto.se is an award winning digital payroll service for handling tax and tax deduction for au pair, babysitter, nanny, housekeeper, gardener or any kind of help that you employ privately. We hav excellent customer support and can answer all your questions. Diretto saves you time and ensures everything is correct. If you have questions you are welcome to contact us at support@diretto.se. Diretto is an award winning digital payroll service for private individuals who hire help in the home.

Rules for non EU au pair in Sweden

In order to get a work permit in Sweden the salary before tax for the au pair needs to be minimum of 10% of the ‘prisbasbelopp’ (which the year 2022 is 48300 kr, which results in a salary of 4830 kr) The au pair should be between 18 and 30 years old. You should also offer free accommodation and food. The work should not exceed 25 hours per week and it should consist of light household work and child minding. The au pair should study Swedish and learn about Swedish culture. Read more at the Swedish Migration Agency

Rules for au pairs from EU

If you employ an au pair who does not require a work permit you have more freedom to agree on the terms and conditions. There is for example no age limit and the minimum number of hours are 40 hours per week as per normal Swedish employment law. However, if the terms and conditions that you offer differ traditional au pair terms, maybe you are not looking for an au pair but rather a live in nanny or house keeper.