"I have a Slovak address card, so I don’t have to pay taxes in Hungary…" "I just have to make sure not to spend more than 183 days at home". "I’m a digital nomad, I don’t pay taxes anywhere." Many similar misconceptions circulate in Hungary regarding the rules of tax residence. However, tax regulations are “much smarter” than that and those who follow false illusions may even be exposed to criminal liability.

In Hungary the overall tax burden on employment income represents 44% of the total wage cost. Here are the most efficient ways to cut this tax bill.

While a typical small or medium-sized family business consists of a single company, large enterprises tend to work in the form of a company group, made up of numerous companies. How do company groups form and what justifies their formation? When is it worth establishing a company group? These are the questions we seek to answer.

Hungary is an ideal location for international tax planning. Below we summarize the 5 most important features of the Hungarian tax system that can make the country attractive for international investors and public and private multinational groups.

Thanks to the virtual mobility afforded by the internet, a growing number of people today are using online trading platforms to buy and sell foreign securities through brokers abroad. However, these investors in foreign stock markets are often gambling not only with their money, but with the tax system, too – often without even being aware of it.

In line with the models applied in the English-speaking world, the granting of a stock option to a company’s manager, or to the members of its management team, is becoming increasingly widespread in Hungary too. A stock option not only gives the manager an incentive to increase the value of the company, but after exercising the option it also creates an opportunity for him or her to have a say in shareholder decisions. The regulations related to stock options in Hungary, however, carry a good deal of tax-related pitfalls. It pays to be aware of these when devising your stock option plan.

“It’s such a good deal that it won’t last for long”, cried hundreds of business owners in response to the suggestions of setting up an ESOP. However, a bill recently adopted by the Parliament suggests that if a company uses this type of employee benefits scheme for its intended purpose, they should be able to count on it in the long term as well.

Ever since it was introduced eight years ago, the long-term investment account (TBSZ) has been a source of continuous excitement for tax advisors and their clients interested in saving on tax. This is not surprising, as the TBSZ allows business owners to take the income generated by their companies without any tax liability. And although some classic approaches to tax planning based on the TBSZ have closed over time, others are still available.