Starting January 1, 2025, new regulations will require employers to report information about employee absences in the PAYE-tax return (AGI). This specifically applies to absences that may qualify for parental benefits or temporary parental benefits.
The purpose of these new regulations is to prevent benefit fraud.
What does the new reporting requirement entail?
Employers must include individual-based information in the PAYE tax retrun about employees’ absences that could entitle them to parental benefits or temporary parental benefits. Other types of absences do not need to be reported.
The absence must be reported in the same accounting period that affects employer contributions and tax deductions. For instance, if an employee is absent in January but the salary deduction occurs in February, the information should be included in February’s employer declaration.
The report must clearly specify the dates of the absence and whether it covers all or part of the working hours. The extent of the absence can be reported as a percentage or in hours.
The employer's role and responsibility
Employers are required to inform employees that absences are being reported. This information can be communicated, for example, via the payslip and must be provided no later than the day the employer declaration is submitted.
Employers are not required to verify whether the reported absence is accurate or whether the employee is actually entitled to parental benefits. Nor are they obligated to correct or supplement previously reported information. It is the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan) that manages discrepancies between the employer’s submitted data and the employee's own information, within the framework of their existing systems. However, employers may voluntarily inform the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan) of any inaccuracies.
