The Hungarian government presented plans to tax large retailers as part of an economic package aimed at combating the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. The new charge is intended to become a permanent part of the tax system.
After Parliament has adopted the tax rate will be zero for small retail companies, 0.1% of revenue above 500,000,000 forints per year, 0.4% of revenue above 30,000,000,000 forints and 2.5% of revenue above 100,000,000,000 Forints. The tax is to bring 36,000,000,000 forints (110,000,000 USD) from the largest retailers this year and more in subsequent, full years when the economy revives.
This solution refers to the early years 2010, When Prime Minister Viktor Orban taxed retailers, banks, energy and communications companies to correct the country's fiscal course. Most of these taxes have already been withdrawn. The retail tax was initially annulled by the European Union, but Hungary and Poland won another court case that considered the tax legal.
Orban also imposed a new tax of 55,000,000,000 Forints on the banking sector, but this money will be returned to lenders in subsequent years in the form of tax credits.
According to Finance Minister Mihaly Varga in 2020 The economy of this Central European country will shrink by more than 3%. Varga wrote in the retail tax bill that the amendment would allow the government to focus on consumption rather than on work. The tax is levied on those who can bear it and takes into account the environmental footprint of large retailers.