Paid collaborations as a creator: tax, labelling and contracts

1. In short: everything you get for a collaboration is income, the post is advertising and the contract decides the rest.

A paid collaboration is when a company and a creator agree that the creator shows a product, a service or a brand in return for payment [1]. The Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) counts what you get as income, whether it is money, products or services. Products and services are valued at market value, meaning the price you would have paid yourself [2].

You only need to file a tax return if your total income for the year reaches a certain amount. Skatteverket states that the tax-free annual income for 2026 is SEK 25,041, and that you must file a return if you have had income of SEK 25,042 or more [3]. All your income counts towards that amount, for example pay from another job, not just the collaborations [2]. The rules for the company paying you differ depending on whether or not you have F-tax [4].

A paid post is also advertising, and it must be clear that it is marketing and who is behind it [5]. The company carries the main responsibility, but you as the person posting can share it [6]. The contract often sets the scope, the message and the time frames [1], and that is where you see what the company may do with your video.

Section 2 shows how collaborations come about. Section 3 goes through the tax and section 4 your own responsibility for the label. Section 5 is a checklist for the contract, and section 6 covers what TikTok’s own programmes say about Sweden.

2. Collaborations come directly from brands, through agencies and networks, through platforms or through commission.

There are several routes to a paid collaboration, and they can be combined. We have not found any independent source that shows how common they are in Sweden, so they are in no particular order.

Directly with the brand

Many creators handle their collaborations themselves, without belonging to an agency or a network [1]. You then negotiate directly with the company. The advertiser usually provides guidelines, for example key messages, required tags, links or discount codes and the number of posts, but the creator often has some room to adapt the content to their own tone [1].

Talent agency or network

A talent agency represents the creator. The agency often works exclusively with its talent, and collaborations then normally have to go through the agency. Among other things, it helps find advertisers and negotiate contracts [1]. An influencer network is also an intermediary, but the relationship is usually less exclusive: you can be a member without every collaboration going through the network [1]. When an intermediary handles the contacts and the administration, the responsibility for reporting and paying tax usually lies with the intermediary, according to Skatteverket [4]. Ask what the intermediary charges and whether the contract makes you exclusive.

The platforms’ marketplaces

Some platforms have their own marketplaces where brands and creators find each other. On TikTok’s marketplace TikTok One, creators can find paid opportunities and work with brands. To join, TikTok One must have launched in your country or region, and you must be at least 18. The page does not say which countries that covers. To take part in projects, you need at least 1,000 followers and other requirements that vary between projects [7].

Commission and discount codes

With affiliate marketing you get commission on sales that can be traced to you. Affiliate networks have technical systems that show which creator passed on a click or a purchase, and that handle commissions and payments [1]. Skatteverket describes commission as a percentage payment on sales you make for your partner. It is taxable, and so is payment for showing discount codes [2].

3. Skatteverket counts everything you get as income, products included, valued at market price.

Money, products, trips and discount codes

There are no special tax rules for payments to influencers. The general rules apply [4]. You pay tax if you receive goods that you keep, or a service that you use, for example a trip or a subscription. That applies whether or not you do an advertising collaboration, and also if you give away, sell or raffle what you received. A product you return or do not collect, and a service you do not use, is not taxed [2].

Borrowed products are usually tax-free if two conditions are met: you have agreed that the products will be used in your posts, and the loan covers single, limited periods. You must document what you borrowed and how it was used [2]. A personal discount code you receive as payment only gets a value when you use it, and the difference between what you pay and the market price is then taxed [2].

When you must file a return

Skatteverket states that the tax-free annual income for 2026 is SEK 25,041. This means you must file an income tax return if you have had income of SEK 25,042 or more in 2026 [3]. On its page for influencers, Skatteverket writes that you must add up all your income, not just that from collaborations, for example pay from a job, pension and income from your own business. For 2025 the amount was SEK 24,872 [2]. The line therefore covers the whole year’s income, not each collaboration on its own.

If the company has reported your payment, it is filled in on your return. If Skatteverket has not been told about a payment, you must enter the amount yourself and say who paid and when. Payment for things other than employment and assignments, such as donations or payment for clicks on links, is reported as hobby income on appendix T2. Keep contracts, details of the products and their market value, and receipts for at least seven years [2].

Hobby, F-tax or umbrella company

If you run an independent activity without a profit motive or on a limited scale, Skatteverket considers it a hobby. Some companies only want to hire people with F-tax, which is why some influencers join an umbrella company (egenanställningsföretag) [2]. To count as a business, the activity must be run independently, professionally and for profit, and that is assessed case by case. If a hobby makes a surplus, you pay tax and self-employment contributions on the surplus [8].

What the company does, depending on whether you have F-tax

If you have F-tax or a limited company, you report the income and pay taxes and contributions yourself. If you have A-tax, the company usually has to pay employer contributions, and it must withhold tax if you are paid in money and the payment for the year reaches SEK 1,000 or more. If you only get products and services, you pay the tax yourself [4]. Figure 1 sums up the rules.

Ask an accountant

Two questions are not answered on Skatteverket’s pages for influencers: whether VAT can apply to products you receive as payment, and how payouts from foreign platforms should be reported. Ask an accountant or Skatteverket before you file. A business with annual turnover of at most SEK 120,000 does not need to register for VAT in most cases [9], and anyone selling for more than SEK 120,000 in a hobby may need to register [8].

4. You can have your own responsibility for the post being recognisable as advertising, even though the company carries the main one.

All marketing must be designed so that it is clearly marketing and clear who is behind it [5]. Anyone who sees a paid post must understand that it is paid at a fleeting glance, and the payment can be money or other economic benefits, for example goods. The company that hires you carries the main responsibility and cannot contract it away, but influencers and intermediaries can share it. The law also applies when you advertise your own brand [6].

The industry recommendation of January 2026 suggests “Reklam från X” (“Advertising from X”), “Marknadsföring från X” (“Marketing from X”) or “Betalt samarbete med X” (“Paid partnership with X”), and advises against “i samarbete med” (“in collaboration with”). If the label sits in a text, it should open the text. In video formats where the text and the platform’s label are placed over the video, the creator should make sure the post is clearly labelled, and anyone unsure whether the platform’s own label is enough is advised to add one of their own [10]. Wording, placement and TikTok’s commercial content setting are covered in detail in our guide to advertising labels.

5. Check rights, time, exclusivity, approvals and payment before you sign.

The contract often sets the scope, the message and the time frames for the marketing [1]. Skatteverket asks you to keep all written contracts [2]. Figure 2 gathers five things to check before you sign. The list is our own, not a template from an authority.

Rights and time

Whoever creates a work, for example a film or a photographic work, has copyright in it. Copyright can be transferred in whole or in part, but handing over a copy does not mean the copyright goes with it. Unless otherwise agreed, the party that received the right may not alter the work or pass the right on. If you transfer the right to someone who will use it in their business, you are entitled to reasonable payment [11]. So read what the company may do with the video, in which channels and for how long. If a company wants to turn your TikTok video into an ad with Spark Ads, it needs your authorisation, and how long that lasts can be adjusted [12].

Exclusivity and approvals

An exclusivity clause can stop you from working with other companies for a period. Check which companies or sectors it covers, for how long and whether the payment reflects it. Also read how the video gets approved: how many rounds of changes are included and what happens if the company does not reply in time. We have not found any independent Swedish source on what is usual, so the article gives no benchmarks.

Payment

Check when and how you get paid, and whether the payment is money, products or both. Write down the products’ market value, because that is the value that is taxed [2]. Tell the company whether you have F-tax, because that decides whether the company withholds tax or you pay the tax yourself [4]. The contract can also state how the post is to be labelled, with a wording the industry recommends [10].

6. TikTok’s own programmes have their own terms, and Creator Rewards does not name Sweden among its countries.

The platforms’ own programmes are something other than a collaboration. There it is the platform that pays, for example by qualified views [1]. TikTok’s Swedish page on the Creator Rewards Program, read on 15 October 2026, says the programme is currently open to creators in the US, the UK, Germany, Japan, South Korea, France, Mexico and Brazil, and that you must live in one of those countries and have an account registered there. Sweden is not on the list [13].

The same page requires you to be at least 18, with at least 10,000 followers and 100,000 video views in the last 30 days, and the video must be over a minute long. Ads, paid campaigns and sponsored content do not qualify [13]. A paid collaboration therefore earns nothing from the programme, even in the countries where it is available.

TikTok One requires, as section 2 shows, that the service has launched in your country, and the page does not say which countries that covers [7]. In a press release on 28 May 2026, TikTok wrote that TikTok Shop would be available in Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Poland from 15 June, in addition to the existing European markets of Germany, France, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the UK. Sweden was not mentioned [14].

Terms change, so check in the app what applies to your account. Money from a platform programme is taxable, and if Skatteverket has not been told about a payout, you enter the amount yourself [2]. How foreign payouts should be reported is a question for an accountant.

7. About this article: a strong basis for the tax, thinner for the platforms and the contracts.

The article was compiled in October 2026 from published sources, mainly authorities, statute and the industry’s own recommendation. Skatteverket’s and TikTok’s pages, Konsumentverket’s page, the statutes and the recommendation were read again on 15 October 2026. Every source is tagged by what it is: “Independent” for laws, authorities and industry bodies, “TikTok” for TikTok’s own help pages and press releases.

What is not covered

The article shows no fees or commission rates. We have not found any independent Swedish figures for what creators earn per collaboration or what agencies charge, and Mediemyndigheten’s report gives no such share. It does not cover the rules for anyone under 18, nor any platform programmes other than TikTok’s. Nor have we been able to read any public contract template written from the creator’s side. Brand Marketing Sweden’s template from February 2026 is written for advertisers and requires membership [15].

Limitations

The tax part repeats what Skatteverket writes on its pages. It is not tax advice, and a single case can be judged differently. VAT on products you receive as payment and payouts from foreign platforms are questions for an accountant. The description of the law and of contracts is not legal advice. Platform terms change often, and TikTok’s details hold for the day they were read. We have not measured how many people search for the topic.