# Swedish: avgiftsfri tak



## Rejzko

A man speaks about getting car parts from a man in Germany. He holds a tablet in his hand. Then he says this:

Bilar, ja. Nu tror jag att man kan få lite... Nästan så här avgiftsfri tak på flera tusen. Kolla.


Is it "a very cheap loft, only for several thousand"? Or "a loft where you do not pay much for electricity, gas etc"? Or something else?


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## Segorian

_Avgiftsfri tak_ makes no sense at all (whether grammatically or semantically), and _tak_ never means ‘loft’ (although the term _takvåning_ exists). It seems to me that this is the Norwegian word _avgiftsfritak_ (in Swedish usually _skattebefrielse_, but also _avgiftsbefrielse_), which means ‘tax exemption’ or ‘duty exemption’. This is a big thing in Scandinavia in regard to electric vehicles specifically, but nowhere more so than in Norway. A Norwegian speaking, perhaps?


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## Rejzko

The man is probably a Polish immigrant, his name is Kowalski.


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## Rejzko

One thought more. Could it mean: Because of buying cheap car parts in Rostock, he can save several thousand?


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## MattiasNYC

I think you should provide more context since it isn't proper Swedish. But if Segorian's hunch is correct then it seems likely that the buyer won't have to pay tax on several thousand spent because of that "ceiling" ("tak"). Once you're above the "ceiling" taxes begin to be applied.

That's my best guess.

Thanks Segorian!


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## Rejzko

There is no context. It is only something he tells to his friend. Then he speaks about something else. Thank you.


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## raumar

If this is the Norwegian word "avgiftsfritak", it has nothing to do with "tak" as in ceiling. "Fritak" means "excemption". If this is about "fritak", my guess would be that he wouldn't have to pay VAT because the car parts are bought abroad (or something like that).


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## Rejzko

Thank you, it was very helpful.


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## MattiasNYC

raumar said:


> If this is the Norwegian word "avgiftsfritak", it has nothing to do with "tak" as in ceiling. "Fritak" means "excemption". If this is about "fritak", my guess would be that he wouldn't have to pay VAT because the car parts are bought abroad (or something like that).



So just for the sake of me learning something for a change;

When you say "tak" in that word has nothing to do with a ceiling, does this mean that it doesn't matter how much this particular item would cost it would never have VAT?

In Swedish "tag" comes form "taga" or "ta" - "to take" in English - which makes me wonder if that is where the word comes from (i.e. 'freetake', take (buy) it free from fees/taxes)?


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## raumar

MattiasNYC said:


> When you say "tak" in that word has nothing to do with a ceiling, does this mean that it doesn't matter how much this particular item would cost it would never have VAT?


 Yes.



MattiasNYC said:


> In Swedish "tag" comes form "taga" or "ta" - "to take" in English - which makes me wonder if that is where the word comes from (i.e. 'freetake', take (buy) it free from fees/taxes)?


 Yes, that's right.  Like "unntak" (Norwegian) = "undantag" (Swedish).


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## MattiasNYC

Thanks!


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