The mortgage makes up the biggest chunk of a lot of home owners' monthly bills. But did you know there’s a way you can lower your mortgage cost?

The mortgage makes up the biggest chunk of a lot of home owners' monthly bills. But did you know there’s a way you can lower your mortgage cost? Essentially, when you take out a loan in Sweden, the government gives you a discount on the interest you pay, in the form of a tax rebate. This doesn’t include interest paid on all types of loans – for example, student loans are not included – but it does include your mortgage. In order to qualify for the discount, referred to as ränteavdrag (interest deduction) or skatteavdrag (tax deduction), you need to fulfil some requirements: If there are two of you who are both named on the mortgage who fulfil these requirements, you’ll each receive 50 percent of the total tax rebate. The interest deduction is automatically subtracted from your yearly tax and listed in your yearly declaration, if you fulfil the requirements, meaning you’re likely to get it back as a lump sum when tax season rolls around next April. The actual sum you get back varies depending on how much tax and interest you’ve paid during the year, but there are some general calculations which can give you a guideline of what you might get. You’ll get 30 percent of your interest costs back on the first 100,000 kronor you pay in interest over a year, and 21 percent on anything over 100,000 kronor.