If we do not consider the “reactivation” of the “dormant” advertising tax, then this year the budget continues to draw revenue from the same number of tax types as last year – namely 52. Behind this unchanged big picture, however, both structural trends and rather amusing curiosities can still be identified.
For more than ten years now, Jalsovszky has been annually reviewing the tax types operating in Hungary. This is, however, the first time it could be established that the number of tax types has not changed: just like last year, this year the budget collected revenues from exactly 52 taxes. (For methodological reasons, however, from this year onwards so-called supervisory fees are no longer included in the analysis, meaning that the listed 52 taxes no longer include, for example, the food chain supervisory fee, the nuclear supervisory fee, and the gambling supervisory fee.)
If, however, we only look at the last four years, we can see that we have gone through a very turbulent period. In 2022 and 2023, the number of tax types increased significantly, while in 2024 we saw a substantial decline. Overall, this means that compared to four years ago, we now have three more taxes.
No new tax … or is there?
The lack of change is reflected not only in the unchanged number of tax types, but also in the fact that no new tax was introduced over the past year. Although this is not entirely true.
It was known that the advertising tax, reduced to 0% in 2020, would sooner or later be revived. It is a long-standing tax wisdom that it is much easier to increase the rate of an existing tax than to introduce a new one. This is what happened with the advertising tax as well. From 1 July this year, there will be a real advertising tax not only in name but also in terms of burden: the tax rate will increase from the current 0% to 7.5%.
The exotic tax
In 2024, a special tax burden was introduced, the so-called “ornamental plant tax”. Through this tax, actors in the horticultural and ornamental plant industry essentially finance the non-brand-specific marketing of ornamental plants, as well as research and development programs and other measures related to the industry.
Although the ornamental plant tax is not a new tax, as it has already been with us for a year, data on the revenues it generates are now available for the first time. While official tax revenue figures are not available, since payments are made into a fund operated by the Association of Hungarian Ornamental Horticulturists, it is possible to infer from the organization’s financial statements how much revenue this tax may have generated. Data enclosed on 31 May 2025 suggests that in its first year this tax may have generated HUF 21.8 million in revenue. The assessment of whether it is worth creating and maintaining a new tax for such an amount may therefore raise questions.
Increasing concentration
The most significant tax types in 2025 were the same as a year earlier. The list is led by VAT, followed by revenues from personal income tax and social security contributions. However, if we combine the social security contribution and the social contribution tax, the revenues collected under these two tax types exceed the amount of VAT revenues.
What is striking, however, is that compared to other tax types, the share of revenues from these taxes is steadily increasing. In 2025, the state derived proportionally more revenue from VAT, personal income tax, and social security contributions than a year earlier. If we add up these three levies, they already accounted for 55.8% of the central revenues in 2025 – compared to 52.3% in the previous year. This is particularly noteworthy because revenues from these taxes fell short of the planned level last year.
THE FULL LIST OF TAXES IS AVAILABLE IN OUR PUBLICATION
