For your employees to avoid taxation, a conference must create value for the business and meet three requirements:
1. 75% of the normal working time, i.e., six hours per full day, must consist of qualitative work that benefits the company or organization.
2. If a conference lasts longer than a week, 30 hours must consist of qualitative work and be spread throughout the week.
3. Entertainment, relaxation, and team-building activities should occur outside the above time frames to avoid a taxable benefit for the employees.
Documention
Save a detailed agenda with information about content, time allocation, costs, and participant lists for each program point from your conference. Photos or video clips that support the business purpose of a conference or study trip are also good to have in case of questions from the Swedish Tax Agency.
Conference trip abroad
If your conference trip or study trip is held abroad, you should also document the business reasons for this. Approved reasons can include that the parent company is located at the destination or that it is cost-effective to hold a conference abroad compared to a conference in Sweden.
Food and entertainment can be deductible
A conference is not considered entertainment for the company. Costs for food and activities can therefore be deductible for the company or organization, provided the above criteria regarding the time frame are met.
