While Hungary has long been a preferred place in international tax planning, with a flat 9% corporate tax rate recently introduced, the country has arrived to the forefront of the competition. Adding also the absence of withholding taxes, the participation exemption both on portfolio holdings and intellectual properties, coupled with all benefits of an EU–compliant tax legislation, Hungary is destined to become a popular place for tax experts.

A cartel case of key importance is currently awaiting a decision from the General Court of the European Union (GC). If the GC approves the decision of the European Commission, this will open the door for declaring financial investors liable, under cartel law, for the illegal practices of businesses in their portfolio companies, regardless of whether or not the investor was aware of the cartel activities.

In its latest decision, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that the Hungarian tax authority (NAV) unlawfully refused to allow VAT deduction to taxpayers who could not have known that the invoice’s issuer was implied in tax fraud. A special twist in the so-called Signum case is that it was the court of first instance who referred the case to the ECJ, as opposed to the guidelines of Hungary’s supreme court. The decision will have a significant bearing on ongoing tax audits and tax-authority findings, especially in the agricultural and trade sectors.

Back in the day, buyers and sellers were better off selling shares in a company with possession of the property, rather than the property itself; but over the years, legislators have chipped away steadily at the benefits of acquiring property through a company purchase. Contrary to common belief, however, buying real estate through a company can still bring a number of tax advantages; and the range of these is set to expand from January of next year.

Don’t worry! There aren’t any such taxes for the time being. But we do have taxes on tasteless buildings, boat tax, pony tax, telephone mast tax, tractor tax, and even arable land tax – just to mention a few of the municipal taxes that add spice to our everyday lives. We aren’t completely defenceless, however, if the local authorities do try and levy any of these taxes on us.

As it is commonly known, the calculation of the corporate tax liability of Hungarian enterprises is based on the accounting figures. But a nasty surprise could lie in store for those who believe that they can apply the principles of accounting recognition fully in the course of calculating corporate tax.

In order to bring Hungarian tax law in line with OECD’s recommendations delivered in “Action 5” of the “BEPS-package”, Hungary’s special tax regime on intellectual properties has been amended as of 1 July.

According to our calculations there are presently 60 taxes in force in Hungary. Value added tax accounts for 25% of central tax revenues whereas the personal income tax accounts for 13%. However, most taxes account for less than 1% of these tax revenues. The figure of 60 different taxes seems slightly excessive also in an international context.