IT tax credits - part of migration and integration policy

Earlier today, the government and the Alliance parties convened a press conference to announce their agreement on migration and integration policy. Not a day too soon, most people think. Sweden, together with the rest of Europe, is facing an enormous task to give people fleeing from war, persecution and oppression a safe life. This is a serious situation that requires party politics (and bloc politics) to be put aside and to agree on joint measures to secure the reception of asylum seekers and strengthen the settlement of new arrivals.

The agreement contains a number of measures, of which one in particular can be considered particularly gratifying, namely the extension of the RUT deduction to include IT services in the home (RIT deduction). This is an issue that we at IT&Telecom companies, together with Almega, have been pursuing for several years and also a proposal that the Digitalization Commission highlighted in its interim report in March this year.

This is incredibly gratifying, because it will not only lead to more jobs for people with little education, but also help solve the impending knowledge challenge linked to the digitalization of society that we are facing. After all, digitalization affects everything and everyone - and everyone's everyday life. Of course, this is a fundamentally positive development, but we also know that knowledge is required for us to really take advantage of the opportunities of digitization and its positive effects. Knowledge that, with a RIT deduction, more citizens can now take advantage of.

And there is interest in buying this type of IT service. A Demoskop survey conducted a couple of years ago by IT&Telekomföretagen together with Almega shows that two out of three respondents are in favor of the introduction of a tax reduction for IT services in the home, and that one out of three would use it themselves. It also shows that people over the age of 65 are more positive to the reduction, and to an even greater extent than average would use such services.

Tax deductions for IT services in the home can thus be seen both as an integration measure that creates more and new jobs, but also as an inclusion measure that enables more people to take part in the digital society. The right idea! The right decision! In the end.