Vem sjunker med skeppet? - En undersökning av företrädaransvaret och dess förenlighet med några grundläggande rättsprinciper
(2025) JURM02 20252Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract
- The rules on the liability of company representatives for taxes is an interesting legal institute within Swedish tax law, which originally has its roots in the criminal law. It was initially introduced to prevent the limited company form from being exploited at the expense of the state, by allowing tax liabilities to be accumulated and used as risk capital.
The provisions set out in Chapter 59, Paragraphs 12–21 of the Swedish Tax Procedures Act (2011:1244) provide that a company representative may become jointly and severally liable with a legal entity, inter alia for unpaid taxes and fees, if the representative has intentionally or through gross negligence has not paid the tax or fee.
Recently, the rules on the liability of company... (More) - The rules on the liability of company representatives for taxes is an interesting legal institute within Swedish tax law, which originally has its roots in the criminal law. It was initially introduced to prevent the limited company form from being exploited at the expense of the state, by allowing tax liabilities to be accumulated and used as risk capital.
The provisions set out in Chapter 59, Paragraphs 12–21 of the Swedish Tax Procedures Act (2011:1244) provide that a company representative may become jointly and severally liable with a legal entity, inter alia for unpaid taxes and fees, if the representative has intentionally or through gross negligence has not paid the tax or fee.
Recently, the rules on the liability of company representatives have been criticised for being too strict and for having been applied in practice beyond what was originally intended. As a result, a public investigation (Swedish Government Official Report SOU 2020:60) was initiated with the aim of examining how the provisions could be made more fit for their purpose. The Government Bill (prop. 2025/26:52) was finally presented in November of this year and proposes a number of changes to the rules governing the liability of company representatives.
The following thesis examines the purpose of the legislation, compares the rules with two other forms of liability related to limited liability companies namely, the rules on personal liability in cases of capital deficiency and the doctrine of piercing the corporate veil and critically examines the current law in light of a number of relevant principles of private and public law.
The proposed changes to the rules on the liability of company representatives are also addressed and critically examined from a legal certainty perspective, based on the selected legal principles.
The conclusion is that the liability of company representatives constitutes a relatively strict form of liability, which may be partially criticised from a legal certainty perspective. The proposed changes to the rules contribute, to some extent, to a more legally certain framework for representative liability, but nevertheless leave room for further improvement. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Företrädaransvaret är ett intressant institut inom Skatterätten som från början har sin grund i straffrätten. Det instiftades ursprungligen för att förhindra att aktiebolagsformen utnyttjades på statens bekostnad genom, att skatteskulder byggdes upp och användes som riskkapital.
Reglerna som återfinns i 59 kap. 12–21 §§ skatteförfarandelagen (2011:1244) innebär att en företrädare kan bli solidariskt betalningsansvarig med en juridisk person, bland annat för obetalda skatter och avgifter om företrädaren uppsåtligen eller av grov oaktsamhet inte betalat skatten eller avgiften.
Företrädaransvaret har under senare tid kritiserats som allt för strängt och för att tillämpningen i praxis hamnat utanför vad som ursprungligen avsågs. Med... (More) - Företrädaransvaret är ett intressant institut inom Skatterätten som från början har sin grund i straffrätten. Det instiftades ursprungligen för att förhindra att aktiebolagsformen utnyttjades på statens bekostnad genom, att skatteskulder byggdes upp och användes som riskkapital.
Reglerna som återfinns i 59 kap. 12–21 §§ skatteförfarandelagen (2011:1244) innebär att en företrädare kan bli solidariskt betalningsansvarig med en juridisk person, bland annat för obetalda skatter och avgifter om företrädaren uppsåtligen eller av grov oaktsamhet inte betalat skatten eller avgiften.
Företrädaransvaret har under senare tid kritiserats som allt för strängt och för att tillämpningen i praxis hamnat utanför vad som ursprungligen avsågs. Med anledning av detta påbörjades en offentlig utredning (SOU 2020:60) med syfte att undersöka hur bestämmelserna kunde göras mer ändamålsenliga. Propositionen (prop. 2025/26:52) blev äntligen klar i november i år och ger förslag på ett antal ändringar i reglerna om företrädaransvaret.
Följande uppsats behandlar syftet med lagstiftningen, jämför lagstiftningen med två andra former av ansvar kring aktiebolaget, reglerna om personligt ansvar vid kapitalbrist och ansvarsgenombrottet och granskar kritiskt den gällande rätten utifrån ett antal relevanta civilrättsliga och offentligrättsliga principer.
Även förslaget till ändring av företrädaransvarsreglerna behandlas och granskas även det kritiskt ur ett rättssäkerhetsperspektiv baserat på de utvalda rättsliga principerna.
Slutsatsen är att företrädaransvaret är ett relativt strängt ansvar, som delvis kan kritiseras från ett rättssäkerhetsperspektiv. De ändringar av ansvaret som föreslås bidrar bitvis till ett mer rättssäkert företrädaransvar, men lämnar trots det en del övrigt att önska. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9217444
- author
- Ljunggren, Pauline LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- Who sinks with the ship? - A study of the rules on the liability of company representatives for taxes and it's compatibility with a few legal certainty principles
- course
- JURM02 20252
- year
- 2025
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- Skatterätt, Företrädaransvar, Ansvarsgenombrott, Kapitalbrist, Rättssäkerhet
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9217444
- date added to LUP
- 2026-01-19 09:57:02
- date last changed
- 2026-01-19 09:57:02
@misc{9217444,
abstract = {{The rules on the liability of company representatives for taxes is an interesting legal institute within Swedish tax law, which originally has its roots in the criminal law. It was initially introduced to prevent the limited company form from being exploited at the expense of the state, by allowing tax liabilities to be accumulated and used as risk capital.
The provisions set out in Chapter 59, Paragraphs 12–21 of the Swedish Tax Procedures Act (2011:1244) provide that a company representative may become jointly and severally liable with a legal entity, inter alia for unpaid taxes and fees, if the representative has intentionally or through gross negligence has not paid the tax or fee.
Recently, the rules on the liability of company representatives have been criticised for being too strict and for having been applied in practice beyond what was originally intended. As a result, a public investigation (Swedish Government Official Report SOU 2020:60) was initiated with the aim of examining how the provisions could be made more fit for their purpose. The Government Bill (prop. 2025/26:52) was finally presented in November of this year and proposes a number of changes to the rules governing the liability of company representatives.
The following thesis examines the purpose of the legislation, compares the rules with two other forms of liability related to limited liability companies namely, the rules on personal liability in cases of capital deficiency and the doctrine of piercing the corporate veil and critically examines the current law in light of a number of relevant principles of private and public law.
The proposed changes to the rules on the liability of company representatives are also addressed and critically examined from a legal certainty perspective, based on the selected legal principles.
The conclusion is that the liability of company representatives constitutes a relatively strict form of liability, which may be partially criticised from a legal certainty perspective. The proposed changes to the rules contribute, to some extent, to a more legally certain framework for representative liability, but nevertheless leave room for further improvement.}},
author = {{Ljunggren, Pauline}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Vem sjunker med skeppet? - En undersökning av företrädaransvaret och dess förenlighet med några grundläggande rättsprinciper}},
year = {{2025}},
}