Global employee mobility is an increasingly common issue for companies. Therefore, it is important to be familiar with the basic legal and tax regulations regarding postings. While the first chapter of our three-part series focused on the most important legal questions, this time we will explore tax and social security considerations.

Many people who hold assets or realise income on foreign bank accounts have recently received an invitation from the Hungarian tax authority, NAV, to partake in a “support procedure”. An invitation from a tax authority is never entirely pleasant, even if its purpose is “support”. Or is there really nothing to fear?

A widely applied business model among software development companies is providing software development services for other businesses. Few of these companies know that they can still claim tax relief in this case too, just as they would be able to if they were developing software for their own purposes.

Tax-efficient forms of remuneration, serving at the same time, as a means of motivating management have never been more popular. And the range of options available for doing this has expanded this summer to include what’s known as a Special Employee Co-Ownership Program (“KMRP” in Hungarian), a vehicle that can be used for in certain situations that cannot be handled in the context of an Employee Part-ownership Program, MRP. In addition, KMRPs are an excellent vehicle for implementing management buyouts. 

The most common form of corporate financing among owners is still the member’s loan. But many forget that while granting a member’s loan is relatively easy, it hides several ticking time bombs – as a recent Supreme Court decision confirmed. Fortunately, there’s already a risk-free capital contribution option. 

For many, the summer months bring to mind sunny beaches, mouth-watering Mediterranean cuisine, colourful buildings along Portuguese streets, and cities that offer memorable cultural experiences... Yet few are aware that, beyond drawing in tourists, because of their tax systems, popular holiday resorts are also attractive destinations for affluent, well-to-do foreigners - often for periods of time longer than that of a mere summer adventure.

We already know that Covid is changing the way we live and work. We’re keeping away from each other, we’re traveling less, we’re talking to each through video calls, and we’re working at home. But most of us haven’t thought about how these changes may affect the country our company pays taxes in.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has declared in a recent case that when checking VAT transactions, the tax authority cannot ignore examining the full budgetary impact. Thus it is not acceptable for the authorities to deny the right of VAT deduction to a taxpayer without allowing the other taxpayer to accordingly reclaim the VAT that it paid. Furthermore, the court also found it unacceptable for the tax authority to base a fine only on the amount of the VAT deducted unlawfully without examining the tax shortfall actually caused. The ruling can be considered as another important step towards the creation of a fair VAT system.