Registration of religious communities
Religious communities and organisational units of religious communities may register the name of the community so it is legally protected and the community can also apply for help from the government in calculating membership fees and levying them from those of its members who pay income tax in Sweden.
Registration means that the name of the community is legally protected and that the community can apply for help from the government in calculating membership fees and levying them from those of its members who pay income tax in Sweden.
Registration of a community does not mean that the government or any public agency has made any evaluation or assessment of its religious activities.
If a community is registered, its organizational units may also be registered. The same conditions apply for the registration of the organizational units of a community as for the community itself.
Conditions that must be fulfilled
- The community must be a community for religious activities, which includes arranging services for collective worship, prayer or meditation.
- The community must have statutes in which this purpose is stated. The statutes must also contain provisions concerning how decisions are made within the community.
- The community must have a governing board or equivalent body.
- The name of the community must be distinct, especially in relation to other religious communities. The name may not be offensive from the point of view of morality or public order.
- Limited companies, cooperative economic associations or foundations cannot be registered as religious communities.
Registration number
When a religious community is registered, it is given a registration number. The same applies for the organizational units of a community. Previous registration numbers, such as those used for non-profit associations, cannot be kept.
Registered information
The registration comprises the name of the community, its address, its statutes and a contact person.
When you report changes to registered information about a community's name and statutes, you must pay a fee of SEK 1,800. The fee must be paid to Kammarkollegiet when the application is submitted. The payment must be made to bankgiro number 167-7095
Only changes to names and statues are subject to a fee. If you, for example wish to make a change to the the postal address or the contact person's name or contact information, it is free of charge.
Change form (in Swedish)
Pdf, 202 kB.
Application fee
The registration fee for the community or the organisational unit of the community is based on the cost of maintaining the register. The application fee is SEK 2 700 per entity and the annual fee is SEK 900.
The fee must be paid to Kammarkollegiet at the same time as the application is submitted. The payment must be made to bankgiro number 167-7095.
Application
The application must be submitted in writing and be signed by all the members of the board or equivalent body. The application must contain the following:
- Written minutes or some other document showing that the community has duly decided to apply for registration.
- An organizational unit of a community applying for registration must submit written approval from the community itself.
- Two copies of the statutes or equivalent document. If the statutes are not in Swedish, they must be translated into Swedish by an authorized translator.
- Written minutes or some other document showing that the community has adopted the statutes or the equivalent document.
- Information about where in the statutes the purpose of the religious community is laid down.
- Information about where in the statutes the provisions regarding how decisions are made within the community are laid down.
- Written minutes or some other document identifying the individual(s) elected as members of the governing board or equivalent body.
- Written minutes or some other document identifying the individual(s) authorized to sign on behalf of the community.
- Written minutes or some other document identifying the individual chosen to act as contact person for the community. This should state the name, address and civic registration number of the contact person, and preferably also a phone number and e-mail address.
- Proof of payment of the registration fee paid to bankgiro number 167-7095 and the date on which it was made.
Religious communities and organisational units of religious communities have been able to apply for registration at Kammarkollegiet since 1 January 2000.
