Whichever product or service you are discussing, there are certain names, images or slogans that immediately come to mind. When setting up a business, it is crucial for any founder that the brand they represent has a distinctive, recognizable, ringing name. Building a solid business reputation is a long and bumpy road, but safeguarding legal protection for a brand name or logo to ensure exclusivity is much easier than many people think: the solution lies in trademark protection.

The yearbook of the Hungarian tax authority summarising the most important tax events and statistics for 2022 has been published. It shows, among other things, the number of fines imposed and the effectiveness with which the tax authority's decisions can be challenged. We have compiled the most important and informative figures from the yearbook.

In 2016, when local authorities had been able to levy municipal taxes for more than a year already, we summarised the lessons that had been learned up to then from this newest genre of local taxes. At the time, we were waiting with bated breath to see what the future would bring, that is; to see just how creative local governments would get in thinking up new taxes. So what did ever happen to the ‘kitsch tax’, the ‘pony tax’ and all those other local levies? Now that a few years have passed, the time has come for us to once again peer into the weird and wonderful world of municipal taxes.

For decades, the SAFE contract type in the US has facilitated the raising of capital for start-ups with high future potential. Meanwhile, under Hungarian law, the same can currently only be done in a cumbersome and circuitous way. However, a recent amendment proposal seeks to fill this gap.

On 20 April 2023, after a long wait, the European Parliament voted in favour of the so-called MiCA regulation on crypto asset markets, which will be the first comprehensive set of rules covering this area in the EU. However, it remains to be seen what impact the new regulation will have on the crypto market.

Under a law passed by Parliament yesterday, all companies with more than 50 employees will be obliged to have a whistleblowing system in place from December. Employers with 250 employees cannot wait any longer, as they will have 60 days to implement the system. The question is, of course, whether companies will see the regulation as another unnecessary administrative burden or whether it will trigger an avalanche of internal investigations.

The tax authority (NAV) has recently published its audit schedule for 2023, which shows that it has adapted remarkably quickly to changes in the market. While the focus of its audits this year will continue to be on the high-performing perennial favourites and on large taxpayers, there’ll also be a strong focus on “support” procedures.

Social and economic changes in 2022 have broken a long downward trend recently, with the number of tax categories increasing from 51 to 59 last year. We give you the latest lowdown.