The Swedish government is set to take policy steps to enable a different kind of behaviour in the way in which products are used and the life-cycles of goods. Tax breaks on repairs to bicycles, washing machines and just about any broken item are being brought to the parliament by the ruling coalition. Realities on the ground are not always closely linked to the intentions behind policies, but in the current business context, it’ll be interesting to see whether Sweden’s move provides some kind of model for other countries.
A VAT rate slash from 25% to 12% on repairs to a range of products, including bikes, shoes and white goods, has been put forward and a further piece of policy is expected where people will be allowed to claim back a portion income tax on the labour cost of repairing appliances.
“We believe that this could substantially lower the cost and so make it more rational economic behaviour to repair your goods,” said Per Bolund, Sweden’s minister for financial markets and consumer affairs told the Guardian.
These legislative initiatives are designed to foster a marketplace where it makes less sense for consumers to throw out broken items and to incentivise the repairs industry in Sweden.
While they are part of Sweden’s focus on reducing carbon emissions, what makes these policies most interesting is their potential link and indirect enablement of disruptive business trends like the sharing economy and maker movements.
There is already an emerging business case for higher levels of repair and sharing models, and a policy framework that systematically provides both labour and purchasing advantages for those behaviours could help those marketplaces become more entrenched and widely spread.
The tax breaks are part of the Swedish government’s budget proposal. If they are voted through in December, they could become law as early as 1 January 2017.
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