tag: VAT

According to the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 16 May 2024 (C-746/22), the Hungarian rule that does not allow foreign taxpayers in VAT refund cases to submit their documents even in the appeal procedure is contrary to EU law. We have summarised the key lessons learned from the case which was handled by our office.

This is the seventh year that we’ve been taking stock of the types of taxes in Hungary – and the multi-year trend is decidedly reassuring. The number of taxes has decreased to some extent almost every year. This year we’ve counted 51 types of tax, and at this point one might reasonably ask: is it realistic to expect even fewer taxes?

Implementing private property investments using company assets is slowly becoming a national sport. While the approach seems tempting, it carries a lot of risk. And the tax authority, NAV, has this type of arrangement firmly in its sights.

For years now, opportunities to reclaim VAT on bad debts have come up again and again. Although many had thought they had definitely missed the boat on this one, taxpayers have just been given one last chance.

For the first time, the Supreme Court ruled on the merits concerning the refund of VAT on bad debts – and the decision was in favour of taxpayers. The judgments serve as a guideline in a number of similar cases, and may even help taxpayers with refunds claimed under the rules that came into force in 2020.

VAT can cause a lot of complications when it comes to interpreting our regular contracts. Does the purchase price include VAT if the parties have not explicitly stated so? Should a guarantee withholding be made from an amount that includes VAT? Does the stamp duty need to be paid on the gross or the net price of the property? These questions are particularly timely in light of the recent reduction in the VAT rate on newbuild homes: who stands to benefit from this – the builder or the apartment buyer?

Reclaiming VAT on bad debts under the new 2020 rules may well conjure up images of a TV show obstacle course.  Initial experiences suggest that anyone trying to reclaim VAT will be up against the wall. But the undertaking isn’t unfeasible.

Recently, a Hungarian court accepted the right of a taxpayer to recover VAT on a bad debt where the VAT claim has already elapsed. The court made it clear that the statute of limitations does not count from the day of the original invoice but from the date when the debt became definitively irrecoverable. This decision may give hope to taxpayers in many pending cases.