The termination of employment is one of the most sensitive areas of Hungarian employment law. Whether an employer is restructuring its business, addressing performance issues or managing a cross-border workforce, terminating an employment relationship requires careful preparation. Even where the business decision itself is justified, procedural mistakes or poorly drafted termination notices may expose employers to lengthy litigation and significant financial liability.

In 2024, consumer protection authority placed a strong focus on examining online stores. According to a recent announcement by the Minister of National Economy, such inspections are expected to increase further in the coming year. Additionally, 2025 will see the establishment of a consumer protection super authority, with the primary goal of safeguarding consumers in the digital space. For online store operators, it is crucial to prepare for the key practices and shortcomings that attract regulatory scrutiny.

Including an earn-out provision in a corporate sale transaction can be an effective way to ensure a smooth and efficient transfer of a company. However, it may also introduce significant tax challenges. As such, it’s important to approach the inclusion of such a provision with careful consideration.

This year, the most frequently mentioned buzzwords in the IT sector are "cybersecurity" and "compliance." This is due to the NIS2 directive, which is being uniformly introduced across the EU, and the tasks associated with it span the entire year. Moreover, in just a few days, Hungarian businesses must move past the second phase as well.

While the golden visa rules are still being finalised in Hungary, similar schemes have been popular in other EU countries for years. However, once the Hungarian rules have been finalised, the Hungarian Golden Visa will be highly competitive by EU standards.

As in every year, the Hungarian tax administration has published its yearly summary with the most important trends and numbers regarding taxation in Hungary during 2023. In the last year it seemed that, while the tax authority was still increasing its efforts to entice the taxpayers’ voluntary compliance, fines have also soared to unprecedented heights. The statistics also show that it remains worthwhile to take the case to the courts if one finds the National Tax and Customs Administration’s decisions unlawful.

The new R&D tax credit has been in place for over half a year, and soon businesses involved in innovation will need to decide whether they will pay taxes under the new or old tax credit scheme at the end of the year. However, due to the complexity of the regulations and the interplay between various incentives, making the right choice is often far from simple.

Manufacturers have less than a month left - until June 30, 2024 -  before they must comply with the rules for products subject to the mandatory Deposit Refund System (DRS) when placing them on the market. Compliance with the new regulations will result in a price increase of HUF 50 per product, which consumers will have to bear - unless they return the relevant beverage cans and bottles.