STOCKHOLM, Oct 27: Swedish Finance Minister Par Nuder said on Thursday he had proposed changes to tax rules for small and medium-sized companies which would lead to 1 billion Swedish crowns ($127.4 million) less being paid.

But Sweden’s business lobby said the move was not enough.

“My hope is that the new tax rules will contribute to improving conditions for more and growing companies,” Mr Nuder said in a statement as he proposed the changes. He said the government wanted to change rules on how the income of small and medium-sized firms is taxed.

Some of the income is taxed as capital at 30 per cent and some at the higher rates of income tax, up to 57 per cent.

Mr Nuder said the changes meant that more of the income could be taken out at the lower rate of tax. It would mean that a firm owned by one person could take out 65,000 crowns as capital rather than 12,000 crowns as at present.

But the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise said the changes meant that larger firms would benefit, while smaller ones would be penalized.

“This is no solution for investors or really small businesses. This proposal will not help them in getting lower levels of tax,” the Confederation’s tax expert, Krister Andersson, told Reuters.