Today in Sweden: A round-up of the latest news on Wednesday
Find out what's going on in Sweden today with The Local's short round-up of the news in less than five minutes.
Swedish healthcare staff work 1.5 million hours of overtime
Swedish doctors, nurses and assistant nurses working at six of the country's seven university hospitals, have together clocked up almost 1.5 million hours' worth of overtime in the first ten months of the year, according to data obtained by public radio broadcaster Ekot.
Overtime is not a new phenomenon in the healthcare sector, but that's more than 200,000 hours more than last year, and is linked to extra work due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Swedish vocabulary: overtime – övertid
Healthcare workers at a hospital in Sweden. Photo: Björn Larsson Rosvall/TT
What does the first report from Sweden's coronavirus commission tell us?
Sweden failed to protect care home residents from the coronavirus and the government is to blame – although other individual agencies and authorities bear responsibility – according to the country's coronavirus commission's first report.
The panel is investigating the response to the coronavirus from the government and other authorities. On Tuesday, their first report was presented, which looks specifically at the handling of the pandemic in the elderly care sector. A final report, covering multiple aspects of the approach, is expected in early 2022.
Swedish vocabulary: elderly care – äldrevård
Health Minister Lena Hallengren, right, with Mats Melin, the chairman of the corona commission. Photo: Amir Nabizadeh/TT
Sweden cancels national spring exams
The Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket) has cancelled national tests for the 2021 spring term due to coronavirus-related disruptions to education.
Education Minister Anna Ekström announced the decision saying it was "not desirable, but necessary". The reason is to give teachers and children time to focus in spring, after a year that has seen some disruption to education due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Swedish vocabulary: education – utbildning
The head of Sweden's national education agency Skolverket, Peter Fredriksson, and Education Minister Anna Ekström. Photo: Linnéa Wannefors/TT
Get money back on your property sale
When you sell a property in Sweden, you are liable to pay capital gains tax of 22 percent on any profit you make, but you can defer payment as long as you use the money to buy another home in the EU/EEA. However, if you bought your new house in Sweden you have to pay around 0.5 percent interest on the postponed tax – but that's about to change.
Sweden is scrapping the interest payments at the turn of the year. According to the Tax Agency (Skatteverket), the changing rules mean that if you sold your home in Sweden 2014-2019, you may be entitled to money back. If you think this applies to you, you should contact Skatteverket, and you can also read more (in Swedish) here.
Swedish vocabulary: interest on postponed tax on property sales – uppskovsränta
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Swedish healthcare staff work 1.5 million hours of overtime
Swedish doctors, nurses and assistant nurses working at six of the country's seven university hospitals, have together clocked up almost 1.5 million hours' worth of overtime in the first ten months of the year, according to data obtained by public radio broadcaster Ekot.
Overtime is not a new phenomenon in the healthcare sector, but that's more than 200,000 hours more than last year, and is linked to extra work due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Swedish vocabulary: overtime – övertid
Healthcare workers at a hospital in Sweden. Photo: Björn Larsson Rosvall/TT
What does the first report from Sweden's coronavirus commission tell us?
Sweden failed to protect care home residents from the coronavirus and the government is to blame – although other individual agencies and authorities bear responsibility – according to the country's coronavirus commission's first report.
The panel is investigating the response to the coronavirus from the government and other authorities. On Tuesday, their first report was presented, which looks specifically at the handling of the pandemic in the elderly care sector. A final report, covering multiple aspects of the approach, is expected in early 2022.
Swedish vocabulary: elderly care – äldrevård
Health Minister Lena Hallengren, right, with Mats Melin, the chairman of the corona commission. Photo: Amir Nabizadeh/TT
Sweden cancels national spring exams
The Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket) has cancelled national tests for the 2021 spring term due to coronavirus-related disruptions to education.
Education Minister Anna Ekström announced the decision saying it was "not desirable, but necessary". The reason is to give teachers and children time to focus in spring, after a year that has seen some disruption to education due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Swedish vocabulary: education – utbildning
The head of Sweden's national education agency Skolverket, Peter Fredriksson, and Education Minister Anna Ekström. Photo: Linnéa Wannefors/TT
Get money back on your property sale
When you sell a property in Sweden, you are liable to pay capital gains tax of 22 percent on any profit you make, but you can defer payment as long as you use the money to buy another home in the EU/EEA. However, if you bought your new house in Sweden you have to pay around 0.5 percent interest on the postponed tax – but that's about to change.
Sweden is scrapping the interest payments at the turn of the year. According to the Tax Agency (Skatteverket), the changing rules mean that if you sold your home in Sweden 2014-2019, you may be entitled to money back. If you think this applies to you, you should contact Skatteverket, and you can also read more (in Swedish) here.
Swedish vocabulary: interest on postponed tax on property sales – uppskovsränta
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