%20(1).jpg)
Updated 14 October 2026.
You live in Sweden and are selling an apartment or house in Ukraine. Under certain conditions, the sale may be taxed at 0% in Ukraine. The money may remain in a Ukrainian bank account. Do you still have to report the sale in Sweden, and could Swedish tax be payable?
The short answer is that if you had unlimited tax liability in Sweden on the date of the sale, the sale of property in Ukraine will generally have to be declared in Sweden. However, the obligation to report the sale does not by itself determine how much tax must be paid. It is first necessary to establish your tax status, determine how the property is classified under Swedish rules, calculate the gain in Swedish kronor and check whether any tax was paid in Ukraine.
This article primarily concerns situations in which a person has unlimited tax liability in Sweden (obegränsat skattskyldig) and is resident in Sweden for the purposes of applying the Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation.
Before determining the applicable tax rate, it is necessary to establish the seller’s tax status on the date of the sale.
Under the Swedish Income Tax Act (1999:1229), a person has unlimited tax liability in Sweden (obegränsat skattskyldig) if they live in Sweden, stay in Sweden on a permanent basis or have significant ties to Sweden. It is sufficient for one of these conditions to be met.
As a general rule, a person with unlimited tax liability must declare their worldwide income in Sweden, regardless of the country in which the income arose. This also applies to income from renting out or selling property abroad. If a person has only limited tax liability in Sweden (begränsat skattskyldig), the sale of property in Ukraine is generally not declared in Sweden.
There is another important distinction. Unlimited tax liability under Swedish domestic law and residence for the purposes of the Convention are related but separate concepts. If both Ukraine and Sweden regard a person as resident, their residence under the Convention is determined separately. Factors such as a permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual residence and nationality are taken into account.
Being a tax resident of Sweden therefore does not remove Ukraine’s right to tax the sale of property located in Ukraine. The Convention contains a specific rule for immovable property.
Do you have to inform Skatteverket about property in Ukraine?
The purchase and ownership of an apartment or house in Ukraine are not normally reported in a Swedish tax return. Sweden also does not charge the municipal property fee (kommunal fastighetsavgift) or state property tax (statlig fastighetsskatt) on homes located abroad.
The situation changes when the property is rented out or sold. If the owner has unlimited tax liability in Sweden, income from the rental or sale must be reported in the Swedish tax return. It does not matter whether the proceeds were transferred to Sweden or remained in a Ukrainian bank account.
Ukraine and Sweden are parties to the Convention between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of Sweden for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income.
Under Article 13 of the Convention, gains from the sale of immovable property may be taxed in the state in which the property is situated. If the apartment or house is located in Ukraine, Ukraine has the right to tax the gain from the sale.
However, the wording “may be taxed in Ukraine” does not mean that the gain is taxable only in Ukraine. If the seller is resident in Sweden under the Convention and has unlimited tax liability here, the sale must also be considered under Swedish rules.
To prevent the same income from being taxed twice, Article 22 of the Convention provides for crediting Ukrainian tax against Swedish tax. The gain is first calculated under Swedish rules. A credit may then be requested for the final tax paid in Ukraine on the same income.
A Ukrainian apartment should not immediately be treated as equivalent to a Swedish housing cooperative apartment (bostadsrätt). Skatteverket first determines which Swedish type of property the foreign property most closely resembles.
The legal form of ownership is relevant: whether the person directly owns the real estate, a share in a legal entity, a cooperative right or another property right. It is then determined whether the property is a private residence (privatbostad), a business property (näringsfastighet) or a housing cooperative right that is not a private residence (näringsbostadsrätt). For a private residence, the way in which the owner or their close relatives used the property is also relevant. For example, long-term rental without an intention to live there may affect its classification.
For a private residence (privatbostad), the effective tax rate on the gain is 22%. For a housing cooperative right that is not a private residence (näringsbostadsrätt), the effective rate is 27%. When a business property (näringsfastighet) that is a capital asset is sold, the effective rate on the gain is also 27%. However, rules on recapturing previous deductions and other business-income adjustments may also apply.
The applicable rate should therefore not be determined solely by the word “apartment” in the Ukrainian contract. The property must first be classified under Swedish tax rules.
This is the central point in the calculation. Swedish tax is not charged on all the money received from the buyer. It is charged on the gain from the sale.
For a private residence, the general calculation is:
sale price − selling expenses − acquisition cost − allowable improvement expenses = gain or loss
Selling expenses may include an estate agent’s commission and legal costs connected with the transaction. The acquisition cost is the actual amount originally paid for the property, together with allowable associated expenses, rather than its current market value.
Expenses for construction, conversion and certain improvements may also be taken into account. However, not every renovation qualifies for a deduction. The type of work, when it was carried out, the amount spent and the condition of the property at the time of the sale are all relevant.
It is important to distinguish between two categories of expenses. Repair and maintenance expenses (reparationer och underhåll) may be taken into account only if they were incurred in the year of the sale or during the five preceding years. For example, if the property was sold in 2026, expenses incurred from 2021 through 2026 may be relevant. In addition, the property must be in better condition at the time of the sale than it was when acquired. These rules are set out in Chapter 45, Section 12 and Chapter 46, Section 10 of the Swedish Income Tax Act. Skatteverket also explains the rule on its page concerning repairs and maintenance.
The five-year limit does not apply to documents in general. An old purchase agreement, proof of the acquisition cost and documents relating to capital improvements (grundförbättringar), such as an extension, conversion or the installation of something that did not previously exist in the property, may remain relevant after five years. These documents should therefore also be retained. Skatteverket provides further information in its section on capital improvements.
All expenses must be supported by agreements, invoices, bank statements, certificates of completed work or other documentation.
Here is a simple example. After all amounts have been converted into SEK, the property was purchased for SEK 1,000,000 and sold for SEK 1,500,000. The selling commission was SEK 50,000 and the allowable improvement expenses were SEK 100,000. The gain would be:
SEK 1,500,000 − SEK 50,000 − SEK 1,000,000 − SEK 100,000 = SEK 350,000.
If the property is classified as a private residence (privatbostad), the estimated Swedish tax would be SEK 77,000, which is 22% of the gain. This is a simplified example, but it illustrates the difference between the sale price and the taxable gain.
If the property was inherited, received as a gift or acquired through a division of property, its acquisition cost for the Swedish calculation must be established separately. As a rule, the previous owner’s acquisition cost passes to the new owner. A value stated in inheritance documents does not necessarily become the new acquisition cost. If the apartment was originally purchased for a much lower amount, this may have a significant effect on the gain. In such cases, the previous purchase agreement and documents relating to the previous owner’s expenses may be required.
Under Ukrainian rules, income from the sale of a home may be exempt from tax under certain conditions. For example, the guidance issued by the Ukrainian State Tax Service concerning the sale of real estate by a non-resident individual refers to the sale of one qualifying property during the reporting year under paragraph 172.1 of the Tax Code of Ukraine, provided that the property has been owned for more than three years. The three-year ownership requirement does not apply to inherited property.
Taxation in Ukraine depends on the type of property, the number of sales during the year, the period of ownership, the method of acquisition and the seller’s status. Whether the 0% rate applies must therefore be assessed on the basis of the circumstances of the particular sale.
A 0% tax rate in Ukraine does not mean that the outcome in Sweden will also be zero. Skatteverket calculates the gain under Swedish rules. If that calculation shows a gain, Swedish tax may be payable. If no Ukrainian tax was paid, there is no amount available to credit against the Swedish tax.
This is not double taxation, because tax is in fact paid in only one country: Sweden.
If tax was paid in Ukraine, a credit for foreign tax (avräkning av utländsk skatt) may be requested. The request must be made in the Swedish tax return. Skatteverket also provides form SKV 2703 for this purpose.
The supporting documents should show the amount of tax assessed in Ukraine, that it was final and actually paid, and that it relates to the same income declared in Sweden. A notarial fee, administrative charge or another expense connected with the sale is not necessarily a tax that can be credited. The nature and legal basis of the payment are relevant.
The credit is subject to limits. It may not exceed the final tax that Ukraine was entitled to charge under the Convention or the Swedish tax attributable to the relevant income. If the tax paid in Ukraine is lower than the Swedish tax, the difference may remain payable in Sweden. If the Ukrainian tax is higher, this does not mean that Sweden will refund the entire difference. Skatteverket explains the mechanism in more detail on its page concerning credit for foreign tax.
For the Swedish tax return, the gain must be calculated in SEK. It is not correct to calculate the total gain in Ukrainian hryvnia first and then convert only the final amount into Swedish kronor using a single exchange rate.
The acquisition price is converted into SEK using the exchange rate on the date the purchase agreement was signed. The sale price is converted using the rate on the date of the sale agreement. Improvement and selling expenses are converted using the exchange rates applicable on the dates when the respective expenses were incurred. This also applies to property purchased long before the owner moved to Sweden. The market value of the apartment on the date of the move to Sweden does not replace its actual acquisition cost.
A separate rule applies to the sale price. If the foreign currency received was exchanged into SEK within 30 days after the agreement was signed, the actual exchange rate is used. If the exchange took place later, or the funds were not exchanged into SEK, the exchange rate on the date of the sale agreement is used. The acquisition cost and other expenses must still be converted using the rates applicable on their respective dates.
The calculation is complicated by the fact that Riksbanken does not publish an exchange rate for the Ukrainian hryvnia in its currency database. Riksbanken states that, where a currency is not included in the database, it is possible to contact a bank or currency exchange provider or use another source, such as Oanda or SEB.
A reliable source should therefore be selected, a consistent and transparent method should be used, and exchange-rate data should be retained for every relevant date. If an average exchange rate is used, it should be possible to explain how it was determined.
In one case concerning the calculation of a Ukrainian pension, a court considered a similar issue. The case concerned social security law rather than tax law. There had been no actual currency conversion on the payment date, so the court used a mid-market rate (mittkurs). As Riksbanken did not publish such a rate for UAH, the court used FOREX rates. The decision does not determine the approach that Skatteverket will take in another case, but it illustrates one way of supporting a calculation when no UAH rate is available in Riksbanken’s database.
Suppose that an apartment was purchased in 2010 for an amount in Ukrainian hryvnia that was then equivalent to USD 50,000. It is now sold for an amount in Ukrainian hryvnia equivalent to USD 40,000. If only the US dollar equivalents are compared, the sale appears to result in a loss.
However, the Swedish tax calculation does not compare USD 50,000 with USD 40,000. The acquisition price in Ukrainian hryvnia is converted into SEK using the exchange rate on the purchase date, while the sale price is converted using the rate on the sale date. Expenses are also converted using the exchange rates applicable on the relevant dates. Because exchange rates change, the Swedish calculation may show a gain even though the US dollar equivalent has decreased.
It is therefore useful to make a full calculation in SEK before the sale. A calculation based only on US dollars, or a comparison of amounts in Ukrainian hryvnia, does not determine the Swedish tax outcome.
The apartment may have been purchased twenty years ago, and the agreement, receipts and renovation invoices may no longer be available. In such a situation, it is worth first trying to reconstruct the documentation: obtain a copy of the agreement, request archival documents or an extract from the register, look for old bank statements, or contact the notary, developer or intermediary. Documents belonging to the previous owner may be required for inherited or gifted property.
Renovation and improvement expenses may sometimes be supported by evidence other than receipts. Photographs, drawings, permits, bank transfers and other material may help establish that the work was carried out, when it was done and its scope. Skatteverket makes the final assessment of the evidence.
However, the actual acquisition cost generally cannot be replaced with a current market valuation. If the amount cannot be substantiated, there is a risk that the deduction will not be allowed.
The sale is declared for the year in which the parties signed the binding agreement. For example, if the agreement was signed in 2026, the sale is reported in the tax return filed in 2027. The date of final payment by the buyer or the date on which the funds reached the bank account does not always determine the year of declaration.
The relevant form depends on how the property is classified in Sweden. It may be form K5, K6, K7 or another schedule. The form should not be selected solely on the basis of the description of the property in the Ukrainian agreement.
Before filing the return, it is useful to collect the purchase agreement, the sale agreement, proof of payments, documents concerning the estate agent’s commission and other selling expenses, and material relating to repairs and improvements. If tax was paid in Ukraine, documents showing the assessment and payment are required. If the 0% rate was applied, documents showing the basis for that treatment should be retained. For inherited or gifted property, documents concerning the method of acquisition and, where possible, the previous owner’s acquisition cost are needed.
Another frequent question concerns the deferral of tax on a capital gain (uppskov). Such a deferral is linked to the purchase of a home in Sweden or another country within the European Economic Area. Ukraine is not part of the EEA. Therefore, selling a home in Ukraine and purchasing another home in Ukraine will generally not qualify for a Swedish tax deferral.
Three matters should be clarified before the sale. First, the seller’s tax status in Sweden and residence under the Convention. Second, whether documents relating to the purchase, renovations and selling expenses are available. Third, the preliminary calculation in SEK and whether Ukrainian tax will arise that may be credited in Sweden.
Such a calculation often produces a different result from a simple comparison of the purchase and sale prices in US dollars. It also shows which documents are missing before Skatteverket reviews the tax return.
In summary, if you have unlimited tax liability in Sweden and sell a home in Ukraine, the sale will generally have to be reported in the Swedish tax return. Ukraine has the right to tax the gain because the property is located there. Sweden calculates the gain separately under Swedish rules and in SEK. Final tax paid in Ukraine on the same income may be credited within the limits established by law. If the Ukrainian tax rate was 0%, there is no amount to credit, and the Swedish result is determined by the Swedish calculation.
This material is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute individual legal or tax advice. Skatteverket assesses each case individually, taking account of its particular circumstances, calculations and supporting documents.
When copying or reproducing this material, please include a reference to the website or to Help Ukraine Gothenburg. If no such reference is provided, the organisation reserves the right to request that the source be acknowledged.
Author Julia Dangoor
Official sources
We gather the most essential news and step-by-step guides to help you feel confident in Sweden. Discover your rights, obligations, and opportunities for personal and professional growth all in one place.
