Making an off road notification for a vehicle

If you are not going to use a vehicle, you can make an off road notification. You then do not have to pay vehicle tax or traffic insurance.

Please note that you cannot request an off road notification retroactively; the off road notification applies from and including the date on which the Swedish Transport Agency receives your completed application.

One common misconception is that a vehicle is automatically subject to an off road notification if, for example, a driving ban is imposed due to a missed roadworthiness test. This is not the case. A vehicle is never automatically subject to an off road notification – you must apply to us personally to make an off road notification.

Different ways of applying for an off road notification

Please note that you cannot make an off road notification by calling Customer Services. 

Applying online

This service is available in swedish only.

Make an off road notification for a vehicle 

The first step is to log on to the service using your vehicle registration number and authorisation code or digital ID. You will find the registration number (Registreringsnummer) and authorisation code (Behörighetskod) on your registration certificate.

What is an authorisation code?

 

The appearance of the registration certificate will vary depending on whether you have a new or the old version.

More information about registration certificates.

Applying via your registration certificate

Check the box concerning off road notification and sign. You don’t need to enter the code from your scratched control sticker since it has been discontinued as of 1 January 2010.

Please note that you cannot request an off road notification retroactively; the off road notification applies from and including the date on which the Swedish Transport Agency receives your completed application. Please note that this is applicable also when you apply off road notification in connection with change of ownership. (Read more under the section Simultaneous off road notification and change of ownership).

The registration certificate consists since 2004 of two parts; part 1 of the registration certificate and part 2 of the registration certificate. If you haven’t received such a registration certificate, the old one still applies.

An off road notification is applied on in part 1 of the registration certificate (the blue part). If you wish to make an application in connection with a change of ownership, please use part 2 (the yellow part).

Further information about registration certificates

Traffic insurance no longer required

If you make an off road notification, you no longer need traffic insurance. Your insurance details will remain dormant in the Swedish Road Traffic Registry and we will notify your insurance company of the off road notification.

Vehicle tax refund

If you make an off road notification, you no longer need to pay vehicle tax. We will refund any excess (remaining) vehicle tax. The refund will be paid to the registered owner of the vehicle at the time the off road notification was made. Amounts of less than SEK 50 will not be refunded.

Vehicle tax is charged monthly (unless the annual tax exceeds SEK 4 800, see below). This means that the tax refund will cover all of the remaining whole months. If an off road notification is made around the end of a month, it is important that we receive the application before the end of the month. If the application is received after the end of the month, tax will be charged for the whole of the following month.

Examples:

• An off road notification is made for a vehicle on 31 August. We will refund the vehicle tax from and including the month of September.
• An off road notification is made for a vehicle on 5 March. We will refund vehicle tax from and including the month of April.

Refunding vehicle tax for vehicles with an annual tax exceeding SEK 4 800

Other rules apply when the annual tax on a vehicle is more than SEK 4 800, and we refund the tax from the date on which the off road notification was made. However, if you license the vehicle for use again within 15 days, you must pay tax from and including the date on which the off road notification was made, rather than the date on which the vehicle was re-licensed for use. If there is a change of ownership between off road notification and re-licensing for use, however, the new owner pays vehicle tax from the re-licensing date, even if this is within 15 days of the off road notification.
 
Examples:

• An off road notification is made for a vehicle on 5 January. We will refund the vehicle tax from 5 January. The vehicle is licensed for use on 15 January. We will then charge vehicle tax from and including 5 January.
• An off road notification is made for a vehicle on 6 November. We will refund vehicle tax from 6 November. Ownership of the vehicle changes and it is licensed for use on 17 November. We will charge vehicle tax from 17 November.

Road traffic register fee to be paid

The road traffic register fee must be paid even for off road vehicles.

Simultaneous off road notification and change of ownership

If an off road notification is made for a vehicle in conjunction with a change of ownership, the tax refund will be paid to the new owner. As described above, an off road notification is counted from the date on which the Swedish Transport Agency receives a completed application. Please note that this may mean the vehicle is licensed for use from the date of the change of ownership (according to the application) and up until the date of the off road notification (the date on which the application was received). This means that the new owner is liable to pay tax during this period.

The Swedish Tax Agency is the decision-making authority

The Swedish Transport Agency determines tax liability by means of automatic data processing. If you think you have been incorrectly charged vehicle tax and believe you are entitled to a refund, please contact the Swedish Tax Agency which will consider your case. The Swedish Tax Agency is the decision-making authority.

Driving a vehicle subject to an off road notification

As a rule, you may not drive a vehicle that is subject to a valid off road notification. There is, however, one exception: driving the shortest appropriate route to or from the nearest vehicle test centre. The vehicle must have traffic insurance and there must not be any unpaid vehicle tax.
 
Please note that a vehicle subject to an off road notification cannot be towed either.