Guide

Paying for a Taxi in Sweden and Getting a Receipt

How to pay for a taxi in Sweden, what receipt to ask for, how app payments work and what to keep if something goes wrong.

Information checked: 26 September 2026

Time-sensitive information

Quick answer

Card is the most common payment method in Sweden, so visitors should normally plan to use a payment card or the payment method offered by their booking service. Swedish consumer guidance states that businesses generally decide which payment methods they accept, and Sweden Taxi Guide has not found a national taxi rule requiring every taxi to accept cash or every type of payment card. If you depend on a particular payment method, confirm it before the journey starts. For a taxi using a taximeter, the driver must offer you a taximeter receipt after the journey. Electronic receipts are allowed if you can receive them. Keep the receipt: it contains information that can help identify the vehicle, taxi company and driver if you later need to complain or recover something left in the car.

Key facts

A taximeter receipt must be offered after a taximeter journey.
An electronic receipt is permitted if you can receive it.
For a fixed-price journey in a taximeter taxi, the agreed price must be registered in the taximeter when the journey starts.
App booking does not automatically remove the taximeter rules: they also apply to app services when the vehicle uses a taximeter.
Card is the most common payment method in Sweden. Visitors should normally plan to use a payment card or the payment method offered by their booking service.
Do not assume that every taxi accepts cash. Swedish businesses generally decide which payment methods they accept, and Sweden Taxi Guide has not found a national rule requiring all taxi services to accept cash.
Tipping is not required in Sweden. Whether to leave a tip is entirely a personal choice.

Paying by card

Card is the most common payment method in Sweden. The Swedish Consumer Agency states that fewer people are paying with cash while most payments are digital. For an international visitor taking a taxi, a payment card is therefore the payment method you should normally plan to use.

Sweden Taxi Guide has not found a national taxi rule requiring every taxi operator to accept every type of payment card, so we do not describe card acceptance as a legal guarantee for every vehicle. If you depend on a particular card or payment method, confirm it before the taxi leaves.

What is regulated is the fare information and the documentation of the journey. In a taxi using a taximeter, the fare must be handled according to the taximeter rules and a taximeter receipt must be offered after the trip.

Swedish consumer guidance also states that a business may not add a separate fee merely because a consumer pays by debit or credit card. Other fees may be permitted, but not a surcharge that is charged specifically for choosing card payment.

Paying with cash

Do not assume that you can pay a Swedish taxi with cash. Swedish consumer guidance states that businesses generally decide which payment methods they accept. Special cash-acceptance rules apply to staffed grocery stores and pharmacies, with certain exceptions, but Sweden Taxi Guide has not found a corresponding national rule requiring taxi services to accept cash.

If cash is your only way to pay, ask before the journey starts whether that taxi accepts cash. If it does, also confirm any practical details you depend on, such as whether change is available.

Paying through a taxi app

There are two regulatory situations worth distinguishing.

App-booked taxis with a taximeter: Transportstyrelsen states that the taximeter rules also apply when a journey is booked and paid for through an app. If the price was agreed in advance, that price must be registered in the taximeter before the journey begins. If no price was agreed in advance, the taximeter is used to calculate the fare.

Taxis using the alternative special-equipment system: Sweden also has a legal taxi category that operates without a taximeter. These journeys must be pre-booked through a licensed booking centre and have a fixed price. In this system, payment must go to the booking centre that allocated the journey and may not be handled through the driver or taxi operator.

If you booked through an app, keep the booking confirmation and the receipt or payment record in the app. See Taxi Apps in Sweden for the booking side of the journey.

Your taxi receipt

For a journey made in a taxi using a taximeter, the driver must produce a receipt from the taximeter after the journey and offer it to you. If the journey is invoiced, a delivery note (följesedel) is offered instead. Since September 2023, the receipt or delivery note may be electronic if you are able to receive it.

This is more useful than an ordinary card-terminal slip. Transportstyrelsen specifically advises passengers to keep the taximeter receipt, because it contains information that can help identify the journey if something goes wrong.

What to check on the receipt

Transportstyrelsen says the taximeter receipt includes the vehicle registration number together with information about the taxi company and driver, including identifying driver information. The taxi pricing rules also require the receipt to show the distance travelled and how long the journey took.

Before you put the receipt away, check that the amount corresponds with what you were charged. If you had agreed a fixed price, keep any written or app-based confirmation of that price together with the receipt.

The receipt can be particularly important if you:

think you were charged incorrectly;
need to identify the taxi company or driver;
left an item in the vehicle; or
want to make a complaint after the journey.

If there is a payment or receipt problem

If the amount charged is not what you expected, or you have a problem with the receipt, keep everything that documents the journey: the taximeter receipt, app booking, price confirmation, card transaction and any messages with the operator.

Contact the taxi company or booking service and describe the problem in writing where possible. Our Taxi Help in Sweden guide explains the next steps for unexpected fares, payment disputes and complaints.

Tipping

Tipping is not required in Sweden. Visit Sweden describes tipping as welcome but not expected.

For taxi passengers, tipping is entirely voluntary. Whether you leave a tip, and how much, is a personal choice. There is no compulsory tip or standard percentage that you are required to add to the taxi fare. If you choose not to tip, that is completely normal.