In Sweden, the fiscalization system is fundamentally hardware-based. This means that businesses must use a special device, known as a control unit or control system, to meet fiscalization requirements.
Legal and technical regulations outline the main requirements for fiscal devices, including their architecture, configuration, and the obligation to issue fiscal receipts and other documents. This ensures a standardized approach to fiscalization across Sweden.
Fiscalization in Sweden: control unit vs. control systems from the retailer’s perspective
Public
Sweden
Author: Nikolina Basic
Category:
Fiscal subject related
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429
Content accuracy validation date:
25.07.2024
Content accuracy validation time:
00:00h
The control unit and control systems are responsible for storing and signing transactions. When the Tax Authority needs to perform a control, they access data directly from this device. The technical specifications for these devices are predefined, and they must be certified before being marketed.
Control units can be connected to the cash register/POS application in multiple ways, depending on the integration and connection. It can be connected to every cash register in the store or be connected to multiple cash registers and serve as a control point. Also, it can be located outside of the store, which can be very convenient for retailers, since they do not need to have special hardware present in the store besides cash registers, of course. But still, it is a hardware unit with predefined requirements that must be respected, and proper connection with the cash register is under the control of the Swedish tax agency. There are different certified models on the market.
On the other side, there are also control systems for fiscalization in Sweden. They have been introduced by the regulations, but currently there are no approved and certified solutions on the Swedish market. In terms of architecture, they are more complex than the control unit, and it is certainly something that will digitalize and modernize the control device in Sweden in the future. Control systems have their own special and more complex artwork that controls the unit, and it is made like a special server. It can manage more cash registers, and the server can be used by many businesses. It is needed to have software (control program), a unit where payment is managed, a signing module, and a server (safe place—server hall). The information from each purchase will be safely transferred to the server. From the perspective of retailers or taxpayers, we can say that it looks like a cloud, and lots of functions are performed in so-called virtual environments, but still, it is not a fully cloud solution because of predefined requirements, modules, and special secure environments that must be respected to comply with the legal and technical regulations.
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