2012 budget tinkers with R&D tax credits

The Swedish government's 2012 budget, published on 20 September, included two pieces of renewed R&D tax credit legislation and initiatives intended to increase the commercialisation of university research.

The first piece of tax credit legislation is intended to make it easier to attract foreign experts, including researchers, to Sweden. Under previous legislation, foreign workers were eligible for 25 per cent of their salary to be exempt from income tax if a panel decided they were experts in their field. But the government has decided to scrap the panel and will give the exemption to any foreign worker who earns more than 88,000 kroner (€9,500) a month.