Expenses and mileage as an umbrella-employed worker: how deductions work 2026

As an umbrella-employed worker you can deduct costs you have had for an assignment and get the whole amount back. That requires two things: that you invoice the client for the cost, and that you send the receipt to Paidin. If you do only one of them, you will not get all of it back. There are three types of deduction: expenses against a receipt, mileage at SEK 25 per 10 kilometres for business travel in your own car, and per diems for overnight stays. Paidin has handled deductions since the start, that is for more than ten years, and the requirements are the same as Skatteverket sets for any employer.

Two steps are required to get the whole expense back

This is the most important point in the guide, and the one that decides whether you get your whole outlay back or only part of it. Sending in the receipt is not enough. Two things have to be done, and they belong together:

1. Invoice the client for the amount on the receipt, as a row on the invoice.
2. Send the receipt to Paidin as a deduction.

Here is how it works: the cost you put on the invoice raises the invoice amount, and employer contributions and preliminary tax are calculated on that increase exactly as on everything else you invoice. When you then send in the receipt, Paidin makes a deduction that reduces the employer contributions and the tax by the same amount. The two cancel each other out, and what remains is the whole expense for you.

If you do not invoice the client for the expense

If you send in the receipt without having invoiced the client for the amount, there is no increase on the invoice for the deduction to offset. You then get only one half of the effect: the employer contributions and the tax go down, which gives you a higher net salary than you would otherwise have had, but not the whole outlay back.

The difference is something you have in practice paid yourself, out of the salary the assignment produced.

That is sometimes a deliberate choice, for instance when a cost is included in an agreed fixed price. But it should be a choice, not something that happens because the cost was forgotten on the invoice.

The three deductions

In addition you can upload supporting documents, that is documents that evidence something without being a deduction in themselves.

Expenses: what is approved

An expense has to be directly connected to the work you are invoicing for, and the whole expense has to be consumed during the assignment. That rule decides most borderline cases.

Requirements for the receipt:

• A receipt for the purchase is always required.
• The date on the receipt has to fall within the period you are invoicing for.
• The VAT has to be clearly shown on the receipt.
• Dates in the future cannot be registered; the system blocks them.

This is not approved:

• Training courses, books and anything else that can be used after the assignment ends.
• Consumables where only part is used up in the assignment.
• Computers, mobile phones, cars and other equipment.
• Entertainment, drinks, food and gifts.

The common denominator is that the cost has to disappear into the assignment. A box of screws used up on the job is an expense. A power drill you still have afterwards is an investment in your own business, and is not handled as an expense.

If you buy something against an invoice rather than a receipt, the invoice has to be addressed to Paidin Finans AB, but paid by you before it is sent in.

Putting the cost on the invoice to the client

To get the whole amount back you put the cost on the invoice to the client and send the receipt to Paidin. Enter the amount excluding VAT as the unit price and select the VAT rate that applies to the cost. If you have paid out SEK 1,000 of which SEK 200 is VAT, you enter SEK 800 and select 25 per cent, so the row comes to SEK 1,000 for the client.

The client should not have the receipt and cannot deduct it: the receipt belongs to Paidin, since it is Paidin that pays the reimbursement to you.

Expenses cannot exceed half the invoice

The total expenses on an invoice cannot exceed half the value of the invoice rows excluding VAT. An invoice of SEK 20,000 therefore has room for at most SEK 10,000 in expenses.

The rule exists so that an invoice is compensation for work performed, not mainly re-invoiced purchases. If you are close to the limit it is usually a sign that the materials should be invoiced by whoever sells them, or that the fee is set too low.

Mileage: SEK 25 per 10 kilometres

If you drive your own car on business you are reimbursed SEK 25 per 10 kilometres tax-free, which is Skatteverket's standard rate for 2026. The reimbursement requires a complete mileage log.

The difference between commuting and business travel

This is the most common misunderstanding, and it costs money in both directions if it is wrong:

• The trip from home to the client is commuting. It gives no mileage reimbursement. You handle it yourself in your personal tax return, the same way as anyone else travelling to a job.
• The trip from the workplace to another location during the working day is business travel. That gives mileage reimbursement.

If you drive between two assignments on the same day, that distance is reimbursable, while the distance from home to the first assignment of the day is not.

The mileage log

The mileage log has to be complete for the reimbursement to be paid. That means the date, the purpose of the trip, the start and end address, and the odometer reading or number of kilometres. Paidin provides a mileage log template and a travel expense report template to download.

A mileage log filled in afterwards, from memory, rarely holds up under review. Write the trip down the same day.

Expenses on a ROT or RUT invoice

If you work with ROT or RUT, the split on the invoice matters more than usual, for two reasons that are easy to confuse.

The tax reduction is calculated only on the labour cost. Materials, equipment hire and travel give no ROT or RUT deduction, however they are presented. If you invoice SEK 25,000 in labour and SEK 15,000 in materials, the deduction is calculated on SEK 25,000.

The materials can still be an expense for you. If you have bought materials that are consumed on the job, paid for them yourself and have a receipt with VAT clearly shown, the ordinary expense rules apply: you invoice the client for the cost and receive the amount tax-free once the deduction is approved.

So both things apply at once: the client gets no deduction on the materials, while you are reimbursed for them without tax.

Put labour and materials on separate rows, and mark each row as Labour or Materials when you create the invoice. The column appears as soon as you have selected ROT, RUT or green technology. Only the labour rows count towards the tax reduction.

Per diems for overnight stays

If you travel on business and stay overnight more than 50 kilometres from home, you are entitled to a per diem. For 2026 the standard amount is SEK 300 per full day and SEK 150 per half day domestically. The per diem covers extra costs for food and incidentals, not the accommodation itself: the hotel is handled separately as an expense.

The details, including what applies to travel abroad and how free meals reduce the amount, are in the guide on per diem allowances.

When the documentation has to be in

Three rules decide whether the deduction makes it in time, and they are stricter than many expect:

1. The documentation has to reach Paidin before the salary payment. Deductions are reviewed as the salary is calculated.
2. Deductions cannot be handled retroactively. A receipt that arrives after the salary has been paid cannot be added afterwards.
3. Deductions cannot be moved between invoices. Each deduction belongs to the invoice and the assignment it concerns, under Skatteverket's rules.

The practical advice is therefore simple: upload the documentation the moment you create or send the invoice, not when the salary is approaching. The documentation is uploaded in the expenses section on the invoice page, never sent to the client.

Common questions

How much do I get back on an approved expense?

The whole amount paid out, provided you have both invoiced the client for it and sent in the receipt. If you do only one of them you will not get all of it back; see the section at the top of the guide.

Can I get mileage for the trip from home to the client?

No. That counts as commuting and is handled in your personal tax return. Mileage applies to trips from the workplace to another location during the working day.

What happens if I forget to send in the receipt?

If you have invoiced the client for the cost, the amount is treated as ordinary salary, that is with employer contributions and preliminary tax deducted. The deduction cannot be added afterwards, nor moved to a later invoice.

Can I deduct a computer or a tool I have bought?

No. Equipment you still have after the assignment is not approved as an expense, since the requirement is that the whole expense is consumed during the work.

How much in expenses can I have on one invoice?

At most half the value of the invoice rows excluding VAT. On an invoice of SEK 20,000 the ceiling is therefore SEK 10,000.

Should the client have the receipt?

No. The receipt is sent to Paidin, not to the client, and the client makes no deduction for it. You put the cost on the invoice as an ordinary row: the amount excluding VAT as the unit price, with the correct VAT rate selected.

Does the client get a ROT deduction on materials I have paid for?

No. ROT and RUT are calculated only on the labour cost. The materials can still be an expense for you, which means you are reimbursed for them without tax even though the client gets no deduction on them.

Do I need to register for VAT to invoice expenses?

No. Paidin is the employer and handles the VAT. You need neither F-tax nor VAT registration, which is the whole point of invoicing without a company of your own.