Left Party wants to halve Sweden's municipal tax gap

The Left Party wants to halve the gap between Sweden's highest and lowest municipal tax rates during the next parliamentary term. It proposes making municipalities' actual welfare costs count for 50% of the equalisation calculation and abolishing the system's growth incentive.

In the party's announcement, leader Nooshi Dadgostar said where people live should not determine what they pay for the same welfare. SVT reported that she contrasted Dorotea's local tax rate with Lidingö's, a difference of about SEK 6 per SEK 100.

The party says eight of nine municipality types would gain. Rural municipalities could cut tax by almost SEK 2 per SEK 100 without reducing services, while some affluent commuter municipalities near major cities would contribute more. The announcement provides no municipality-by-municipality table or nationwide redistribution total.

That is a campaign promise, not an adopted change. SKR says current income equalisation is 95% state-funded, with 275 municipalities receiving money and 15 paying, while cost equalisation uses structural needs such as demography and geography. The proposal would require legislation or budget decisions and a Riksdag majority after the election.

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