A new digital sector has emerged during the 2010s in the Swedish labor market, where trade in goods and services is done via apps on the mobile phone.

The app company provides the platform, the customer orders and the provider delivers. Some of the performers are hourly, others are paid per assignment and then the responsibility is to pay tax on the performer himself. It is a form of work known as gig economy, where those who work do not get permanent employment without temporary jobs, so-called gigs.

"Often inexperienced taxpayers"

The Swedish Tax Agency has examined how, among other things, the gig economy affects the tax system and tax revenues.

- We have seen that a majority of the gigs have not paid the right tax. It is often inexperienced taxpayers like newcomers and young people who do not always know how the tax system works, says Rebecca Filis, an expert in the gig industry, at the Swedish Tax Agency.

When SVT has talked to people who work in this industry, we hear that sometimes you earn so little that you would not go around paying taxes. Is it something that the Swedish Tax Agency recognizes?

- When you use this type of service as a consumer, you might not be prepared to pay that much. If it is too good to be true, it may not be so good for all parties. Which means it can be difficult for the giggler to pay taxes and fees on this income.

"The rules are not adapted to the digital economy"

Many app companies do not see themselves as employers, but only as service providers. This means that today they are not required to report the gigs' income. Something that facilitates undeclared work.

- Gig revenue is taxable, but the rules for taxing these transactions are not adapted to the digital economy. We will need to change Swedish legislation and, for example, introduce someone from reporting obligations for platforms, whether they are employers or not, says Rebecca Filis at the Swedish Tax Agency.