Hungarian parliament today – Law on farmland earmarked for compensation and changes to tax secret rules

Budapest, October 11 (MTI) – Lawmakers voted on legislation on the transfer of ownership of farmland reserved as compensation for former landowners and cooperative members on Tuesday. Parliament passed a proposal under which the names of donors and recipients, as well as the amounts donated will be handled as tax secrets in future.

The law was approved with 114 votes in favour, 56 against and without any abstentions.

President János Áder earlier returned the legislation to parliament, expressing concerns over the law’s failure to clearly define the scope of the farmland in question, allowing, in principle, the state to take over any land farmed by cooperatives not previously designated for compensation land funds free of charge.

The law stipulates that farmland taken over by the state is to be offered in ongoing sales of land to local farmers.

The law also repealed earlier legislation allowing the former cooperative members to purchase the farmland using compensation coupons, thus bringing the compensation process to a conclusion.

Parliament passes changes to tax secret rules

Parliament adopted the government-initiated motion in an expedited procedure, with 138 deputies in favour and 31 voting against.

In his justification to the bill, Economy Minister Mihály Varga said that the concept of tax secret should be taken broadly, and apply to any information concerning taxation.

Parties of the leftist opposition have protested against the proposal.

Source: MTI