Tax number

Steps

1. Stay of at least a year: make your declaration of moving (see SE-SEJOUR-TOUS-001). The personnummer is assigned to you on registration; you have nothing else to apply for.
2. Stay of less than a year: apply for a samordningsnummer if you need one and you have a connection to Sweden (employment, studies…). You must show that you need it.
3. Book an appointment at a state service centre for the identity check, which is mandatory before the number is assigned, and bring your identity document.
4. The coordination number stays active for five years, then it is deactivated automatically; you can have it reactivated, with a new in-person identity check.

Documents

• Identity document (passport or national ID card) in the original at the identity check.
• For the samordningsnummer: proof of your connection to Sweden and of your need for the number.
• For the personnummer: the documents for registration in the population register (see SE-SEJOUR-TOUS-001).

Costs and timelines

• Cost: no fee mentioned by the Skatteverket.
• Timeline: for an individual application for a samordningsnummer, up to 5 weeks before an officer takes up your file; for the declaration of moving (registration in the population register), the Skatteverket also indicates about 5 weeks before the file is assigned to an officer.

Common pitfalls

• Thinking the samordningsnummer is equivalent to a personnummer. It serves to identify you, but it does not register you in the population register.
• The identity level. Each coordination number carries a level: "confirmed", "probable" or "uncertain". Only an in-person identity check gives the "confirmed" level. Special rules apply to numbers assigned before 1 September 2023: check yours if you obtained it before that date.
• Letting it expire. After five years without activity, it is deactivated: remember to reactivate it if you still need it.
• Recognising the number: in a samordningsnummer, 60 is added to the day of birth.

What changes by country of origin

• EU and EEA citizens: personnummer through registration (right of residence to be proved); samordningsnummer for a short stay.
• Nordic citizens (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway): same logic: stay of at least a year, declaration of moving and in-person identity check at a state service centre; the Skatteverket's page for Nordic citizens does not mention proof of right of residence.
• Swiss citizens: to stay for more than three months, a residence permit from the Migrationsverket first (free), then registration in the population register and personnummer. To work beforehand, the Migrationsverket states that you need a samordningsnummer (employee) or F-skatt (self-employed).
• British citizens (Scots included): third country since Brexit; a residence permit (or the status arising from the withdrawal agreement) is needed before registration in the population register and the assignment of the personnummer.