I love the Swedish tax-return arrangements. May 3 is the deadline for declaring our taxes in Sweden. Funny date, isn't it? But it is so easy that you can easily leave everything until the last minute - literally.

How easy is this? Several weeks ago, a piece of paper arrived in the mail. It was a one-page tax-return form... already filled in with my income from last year (thanks to the person number system, they know everything you do!). You can change it if you want, sign it and give it back, and voila, you've done your taxes.

But if you are particularly lazy, you can do even less. You can SMS your approval, or change it online, using your on-line bank security codes. Skatteverket, the tax department, already has this year's stats: Over a million Swedes filed electronically, of which 87,189 did so via SMS. We did ours on-line in the semi-traditional way.

My friend who lives in Södermalm quite close to the tax department headquarters, decided to deliver his return in person. Would you believe that the tax department was open until midnight on tax day! How's that for service? There were huge boxes outside the office and people were stuffing in their 1-page returns — no envelopes, no attachments like we have back home. He also said that friendly Skatteverket workers were fanned out along the approach routes, collecting returns from people on their way to declaring. One worker even stood in the middle of Götgatan as drivers opened their windows and gave her their paperwork. Brilliant!

Today I got some funny spam. The combination of sender and subject of this one mail really encouraged me to open it:



At least it made me smile!

The other thing I forgot to talk about was Valborgsmässoafton - the big bonfire night in Sweden.

On the evening of April 30, bonfires are lit all over Sweden to mark the end of winter and the beginning of spring. People gather by the light and heat of the fire to listen to choirs performing a number of traditional spring songs - quite ironic if, in the meantime, sleet and snow are doing their best to put the fire out. This photo was taken by my friend Lennart at the celebrations in Skansen in Stockholm. As you can see, the Swedes love a BIG fire!

Celebrating Walpurgis Night on the eve of the feast of St Walburga was originally a German custom. Walburga, who was an abbess in Germany in the 8th century, has become Sweden's Valborg. Lighting bonfires, especially in the eastern parts of Sweden, is an ancient custom: it was done to scare off predators before the cattle and sheep were let out to graze but also to protect people against the witches believed to be gathering on this very night to worship the devil.

Especially in university towns like Uppsala and Lund, the traditions surrounding Walpurgis Night are strong and include choral singing, speeches and wearing white-topped graduation caps. The bonfires also offer a suitable occasion to get rid of all of the winter debris. See, the practical Swedes strike again!