Unemployment compensation is not intended to supplement businesses with poor profitability, nor to serve as financial support for building a company. Therefore, you are not allowed to start your own business while receiving compensation from the unemployment fund.
Are you self-employed?
When you become unemployed, we begin by assessing whether you are self-employed. To be considered self-employed, you must meet the following three criteria:
You work in your own business
You have significant influence over the business
You have managed the business professionally and independently
If we do not consider you self-employed, we will inform you of this.
Full-time business must be placed on hold
If you have run your own business full-time, you must either place the business on hold or withdraw from it to be considered unemployed. The business is placed on hold with the unemployment fund (not with Skatteverket/Bolagsverket).
Multiple owners: All co-owners must pause the business in order to apply for compensation. If not all do so, you must withdraw from the business—this means you no longer work in, own, or have significant influence over the business. At that point, you are considered unemployed.
Sole owner: You may keep the business as long as no one continues to perform any work in it, meaning it is placed on hold.
If you have previously placed your business on hold and received compensation, you must have actively operated the business for at least three years before it can be placed on hold again. If you have not run the business for three years, you must fully withdraw from it.
Is the business still profitable?
If you choose to close a profitable business, you may be suspended from compensation for 45 compensation days, as this is considered a voluntary resignation. For a business to be considered profitable, your income must exceed four price base amounts per year. Contact us if, for example, you have lost your only client and your income has completely stopped.
How we calculate compensation for the self-employed
All self-employed individuals, regardless of business type, must complete the form Frågor för företagare available in Mina sidor. There are three methods used to calculate how much compensation you may receive after running your own business. We choose the option that is most beneficial to you when making our decision. The maximum amount you can receive is 27,200 SEK per month before tax.
Three calculation methods
You verify your working hours yourself when applying for compensation. The income we base your compensation on depends on what is most beneficial for you, and we may therefore need information from Skatteverket and sometimes from a previous employer. If you wish, we can retrieve income data from Skatteverket.
We always choose the available option that is most advantageous for you.
Most recently taxed income: Compensation is based on the most recently taxed income from your business. This is shown in the latest Beslut om slutlig skatt.
Average over several years: Compensation is based on the average of the taxed business incomes from the two years preceding the year of the most recently taxed income.
Income from previous employment: If the business has been your main occupation for less than 5 years directly following a job where the income requirement was met, compensation is based on your previous employment.
What counts as income for the self-employed
When the income requirement is assessed, you may use earned income from your business. This means you must have either drawn a salary or declared taxable income from the business to meet the requirement.
Sole proprietorship, trading partnership, and limited partnership: Income refers to earned income from the business, meaning the business’s profit before tax and after deductions.
Combination earner: If you work in your own business and are also employed by an employer, both the salary and the business’s profit (after deductions and before tax) are combined. This total forms the basis for your compensation. However, this does not apply if the business is a so-called approved company.
Limited company: Compensation is based on the salary you have drawn. If you have not drawn any salary, you are not entitled to unemployment compensation.
Self-employment (if you perform assignments and invoice through an invoicing company): Income is the salary you receive from the invoicing company.
We receive your income details if you have a limited company
If you have a limited company, you receive a salary as an employee. This means that we at the unemployment fund can retrieve your income details directly from Skatteverket.
How to obtain your income details from Skatteverket – other business types
When applying for compensation, you will receive a power of attorney form in your To-do list. Print it out and send it to Skatteverket, and they will provide your income details to us.
You can also download and submit an extract from beskattningsregistret yourself via Skatteverket. It is important that you select Fullständiga (Complete) when asked about the scope of the information. You’ll find this option in Mina sidor at Skatteverket.
Approved business
If you have operated your business alongside regular employment, you may in some cases continue with it during unemployment. This shows that the business does not limit your ability to work full-time and therefore does not affect compensation from the unemployment fund. To avoid incorrect compensation payments, the assessment and decision regarding approved business must be made when your compensation application is reviewed.
You must have run or worked in your own business alongside employment of at least 50% for a minimum of 6 months before becoming unemployed.
The business must not prevent you from seeking and accepting full-time employment.
You must have earned less than an average of 10,000 SEK per month from the business. You may not increase either your working hours or income during unemployment. If you begin working more hours or increase your income in your own business, it will no longer be considered an approved business, and you will no longer be entitled to compensation.
Apply in Mina sidor when seeking compensation
Fill in the Frågor för företagare form in Mina sidor to apply for your business to be approved at the same time as you apply for compensation.
Approved business does not affect compensation
We upload a decision in Mina sidor stating whether your business is approved or not. The decision specifies how many hours per week you are allowed to work in your business. The work you perform in the business cannot be included in the income requirement and therefore cannot form the basis for a new compensation period.
Expanding the business means you are considered self-employed and lose the right to compensation
If you either increase your working hours or raise the average income in your business, it will no longer be considered approved. This means you are classified as self-employed and your right to unemployment compensation ends.
Contact us immediately if there are any changes in your business activity. You can call us or send a message via Mina sidor.
Family-owned business
You may be considered self-employed if you have a close family relationship with the owner. This requires that you personally perform work in the business and have significant influence over it.
Dormant business
If you own a business where no one is currently working, it may be considered dormant. If you are the sole owner, this is usually not a problem—you simply confirm to us that the business is dormant.
If you have previously received compensation while the business was dormant, you must have actively operated the business for three years before it can be placed on hold again. These are new rules for those applying for compensation from 2024 onward.
Fill in the Vilande företag form in Mina sidor.
If the business cannot be placed on hold, you must fully withdraw from it to be eligible for unemployment compensation.
Invoice without a business
If you hire an employer—for example, through Frilans Finans or Cool Company—we must determine whether the work should be considered self-employment or if you are regarded as an employee of the client.
Contact us so we can review your situation together and decide which certificates you need to submit, ensuring your work can be credited when we make our decision.