Leaving Sweden costs money in quiet ways: a VAT refund lost to a checked bag, a crate of wine over your home allowance, a congestion-tax letter a month later. This checklist runs from two days out to the post after you land, and links each step to its full guide.
When you need this
- Your flight, train or ferry leaves Sweden in the next two days
- You bought things tax-free and want the refund, not a lost form
- You rented a car and want no surprises on your card next month
- You are taking wine, spirits or snus home and do not know your limit
- You are home and a letter from a Swedish agency has arrived
The arrival version of this page is your first day in Sweden.
Two days before: shopping, limits and tickets
Sweden puts no limit on alcohol you take out. Your destination does. Look it up before you buy, because the numbers differ a lot:
| Going to | Alcohol | Snus and nicotine pouches |
|---|---|---|
| Another EU country | No fixed cap for own use; guide levels 10 L spirits, 90 L wine | Finland: 1,000 g snus a day; pouches capped at 1,000 g outright since 1 February 2026. France: pouches banned, possession included, since 1 April 2026 |
| Norway | 1 L spirits, 1.5 L wine, 2 L beer | Snus counts as tobacco: 250 g for visitors. Pouches banned |
| Great Britain | 4 L spirits, 18 L wine, 42 L beer | One tobacco allowance of 250 g, snus included |
| United States | 1 liter duty-free, age 21 and over | — |
Go one liter over in Britain and you pay duty on the whole category, not just the extra liter. Details by country are in taking alcohol home from Sweden and snus rules.
Then buy in time. Systembolaget, the state alcohol shop and the only place selling anything above 3.5%, closes by 15:00 on Saturdays and all day on Sundays and public holidays. You must be 20. A Sunday flight means buying before 15:00 on Saturday (Systembolaget hours).
Count your tax-free forms. A VAT refund covers goods only, at least 200 kr per purchase including VAT, bought by someone living outside the EU. The goods must leave the EU by the end of the third month after the purchase month, and they must be unused (VAT refunds).
Book an early transfer if you need one. Stockholm’s commuter trains run from between 04:00 and 05:00 until about 01:30. Airport coaches run night departures for early flights, and Swedavia, the airport operator, recommends pre-booking a taxi at night (Arlanda to Stockholm).
Carrying EUR 10,000 or more in cash? Declare it when you leave — since 1 April 2026 that includes trips to other EU countries (cash declarations).
The last evening: pant, coins and packing
Return your empties. Pant, the deposit on cans and plastic bottles, comes back at the return machine at any supermarket entrance (amounts in the table below). Redeem the voucher at that store’s checkout. Don’t crush the cans, and don’t carry them home — other countries’ machines reject containers without their own mark (how pant works).
Spend your coins. Since 1 July 2026, grocery stores and pharmacies with a staffed checkout must accept cash for small payments. Exchange offices buy back notes, not coins. Found an old note from before 2017? It is invalid everywhere, and the Riksbank redeems it only by post, for a fee that rose on 1 September 2026 (leftover kronor).
Pack for security, not for the shop.
- Hand luggage: liquids in containers of at most 100 ml. Arlanda Terminal 5’s new lanes drop the one-liter bag, but not the 100 ml limit; Landvetter still uses the bag.
- Checked bag: drinks of 24–70% alcohol in unopened retail packaging, 5 liters per person in total.
- Medicines: liquid ones such as insulin may go in hand luggage; keep them in the original pack with the pharmacy label or prescription (medicines).
- Tax-free goods: somewhere you can show them at the stamping desk.
Checkout and the rental car
Sweep the room before you hand back the key. If something does get left on a train, bus or ship, it goes to the transport company; at an airport, to the airline or the airport. Each keeps it for three months (lost property).
Return a rental car the way you would defend it later. Refuel or recharge to the agreed level — fuel and cleaning shortfalls can be charged. Inspect the car with staff if you can, and photograph every panel, wheel and the fuel gauge in daylight: damage can be noticed after you leave, and your photos are the answer (renting a car, rental insurance).
Getting to the airport or border
| Leaving from | What to know |
|---|---|
| Stockholm Arlanda | The commuter train’s station passage fee is charged in both directions, and the supplement is valid 120 minutes. Arlanda Express singles are valid 90 days, 18 minutes to the airport. Terminal 4 is now part of Terminal 5 — read the terminal off your boarding pass |
| Gothenburg Landvetter | No railway. The airport coach takes about 20 minutes from central Gothenburg |
| Copenhagen, from Skåne | No tickets are sold on board the Öresund trains; buy before boarding |
| By car | Stockholm and Gothenburg congestion tax is registered by camera, with no booths, and billed to the car’s owner |
Taking a taxi? Swedish taxi prices are free. Every car shows a jämförpris (comparison price), and above the threshold in the table below the driver must give you a binding maximum price (taxis).
At the airport: tax-free stamp, security and EES
Stamp first, check in second. The export stamp must come before the goods leave the EU, and a desk that needs to see the goods cannot see a bag already on the belt. Goods in checked luggage are stamped at the departure airport before check-in; goods in hand luggage at your final EU stop.
- Arlanda: refund desks in the Terminal 5 departure hall before security and after security. The postbox takes forms only once they carry a customs stamp.
- Landvetter: the information desk stamps forms.
- Desk closed? Tullverket, Swedish Customs, stamps instead.
- Flying out via Copenhagen? Sweden is not your last EU country, so the stamp is not issued in Sweden.
The refund itself comes from the shop or the refund company, never from Skatteverket or Tullverket. Norway residents follow a separate rule (VAT refunds).
Airside shopping. Tax-free shops sell duty- and tax-free only to travelers bound outside the EU. Drinks bought after security may go in hand luggage, but on a connection within the EU, Norway, Iceland or Switzerland they must stay in the sealed bag with the receipt.
Passport control. If you are a non-EU short-stay visitor leaving the Schengen area, the EES, the EU’s Entry/Exit System, records the date and place of your exit. That happens at the external border where you leave Schengen, which may be a connecting hub. Leaving by road or rail to Norway or Denmark, there is no EES exit in Sweden. Localized EES queues appeared at Arlanda departures in the first summer of full operation, so allow time. Keep your boarding pass: a missing exit record looks like an overstay (EES).
After you’re home: the letters that follow
Sweden bills the car’s owner by camera and by post, so some costs arrive weeks later:
- Congestion tax is decided monthly and due by the last day of the second month after your trip. Foreign cars are invoiced by post via EPASS24, and late payment adds a surcharge every month (congestion charges).
- Rental cars: the company re-bills congestion tax, often with an administrative fee and VAT on top. For damage, it may not take money from your card or deposit without letting you dispute it first. Ask for its evidence, and ask your card issuer about a chargeback if it goes ahead.
- Parking fines bind the registered owner, foreign owners included, and are due within eight days. From abroad you pay by IBAN with the OCR number as the message (fines from Sweden).
- Scams: Transportstyrelsen, the transport agency, never collects payment through an SMS or email link.
Ignoring a Swedish invoice is not free just because you are abroad. An EU directive letting states enforce final unpaid fines over EUR 70 across borders is due to be transposed by 20 July 2027.
Lost something? Contact the holder, not the police — operators post found items for a fee. The police take loss reports from abroad on +46 77 114 14 00.
Practical information
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Pant refund, can or bottle under 1 L | 2 kr |
| Pant refund, bottle 1 L and over | 3 kr |
| Minimum tax-free purchase | 200 kr including VAT |
| Tullverket export stamp | No fee mentioned |
| Arlanda station passage fee (commuter train, 18+) | 157 kr per passage, each direction |
| Taxi binding-price threshold (jämförpris) | 710 kr (2026) |
| Riksbank redemption of pre-2017 notes | 300 kr fee, deducted |
| Late congestion tax | +500 kr per car per month |
| Cash declaration | Free |
| Rental re-bill admin fee | Set by your contract |
FAQ
When do I get my tax-free receipts stamped when leaving Sweden?
At the airport, before the goods leave the EU and before you check in the bag holding them. At Arlanda the refund desks are in Terminal 5, before and after security; at Landvetter, the information desk stamps forms. If a desk is closed, Tullverket stamps instead. Sweden must be your last EU country; flying out via Copenhagen, the stamp is issued there.
How much alcohol can I take home from Sweden?
Sweden sets no limit; your destination does. Within the EU there is no fixed cap for own use, with guide levels of 10 liters of spirits and 90 of wine. Norway allows 1 liter of spirits, 1.5 of wine and 2 of beer; Great Britain 4 of spirits, 18 of wine and 42 of beer; the United States 1 liter duty-free.
What should I do with leftover Swedish kronor?
Spend coins and small notes before you leave: grocery stores and pharmacies with a staffed checkout must accept cash for small payments. Exchange offices buy back surplus notes but not coins. Old notes from before 2017 are invalid everywhere and can only be redeemed by post to the Riksbank, which deducts a 300 kr fee.
Can I get my bottle deposit back before I leave Sweden?
Yes. Feed empty cans and plastic bottles, uncrushed, into the return machine at any supermarket entrance and redeem the voucher at that store’s checkout: 2 kr for cans and bottles under a liter, 3 kr for larger bottles. Do not carry them home; other countries’ machines reject containers without their own deposit mark.
Will I get a bill after returning a rental car in Sweden?
Possibly, weeks later. Congestion tax, bridge fees and parking fines are billed to the car’s owner, and the rental company passes them on, often with an administrative fee and VAT. For damage, the company must let you dispute a charge before taking money from your card; your daylight photos at return are your answer.
Is my exit from Sweden recorded at the border?
If you are a non-EU short-stay visitor leaving the Schengen area, yes: the EES records the date and place of your exit at the external border, which may be a connecting hub. There is none on the land border to Norway or on crossings to Denmark. Keep your boarding pass; a missing exit record looks like an overstay.
I left something behind in Sweden. Can I still get it back?
Usually, if you act within three months. Items left on trains, buses and ships go to the transport company, and those left at an airport to the airline or the airport; each keeps them for three months. Contact the holder, not the police, and ask for shipping: operators post found items for a fee.
Related guides
- Your first day in Sweden — the mirror-image checklist for arriving.
- VAT refunds in Sweden — who qualifies and every stamping rule.
- Taking alcohol home from Sweden — the limits for each destination and how to pack bottles.
- Congestion charges — reading and paying the invoice that arrives after you leave.
- EES border checks — what is recorded and how to fix a missing exit.
Facts verified 2026-09-24. Sources: Sveriges riksdag, Tullverket, Skatteverket, Transportstyrelsen, Swedavia, Sveriges Riksbank, Konsumentverket, the European Commission, and the customs authorities of Norway, the UK, the US, Finland and France — carried from this page’s sibling guides; full register in this topic’s source file. Fares, refund fees and queue times change and are not published here. Found something outdated? Tell us and we’ll fix it.