Együtt: Hungarians’ right to property, freedom under threat

Budapest, November 23 (MTI) – A “campaign” by the government and ruling Fidesz against certain retail outlets represents a threat to Hungarians’ right to property and freedom, the opposition Together (Egyutt) party said on today.

Some of the new legal amendments aim to transform the retail market and worsen the position of large chains where “hundreds of thousands of Hungarians buy quality goods at low cost every day”, Zsuzsanna Szelenyi, who sits in parliament as an independent MP, told a press conference.

The various extra taxes and restrictions planned to be introduced could force the affected chains to lay off workers and increase prices, Szelenyi said. As a result, the prices of staple products, foodstuff and household goods will increase and many shops will be closed “so in effect everyone will be worse off as a result of these measures, except for a few companies that maintain close ties with (ruling) Fidesz,” she added.

According to Szelenyi, this is part of Fidesz’s obtrusive strategy going against free competition.

Next year’s tax law passed by Parliament on Tuesday establishes a 0-6 percent “food supervisory” tax on fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) shops’ adjusted net revenue over 500 million forints. The highest rate is applied to shops with revenue over 300 billion forints.

Additionally, the government submitted on Tuesday to Parliament a bill that would prohibit big supermarkets and discount shops from opening in the area of Budapest’s designated World Heritage sites from next year and force existing ones to close by 2018.

The same bill would prohibit retailers from selling FMCG that fail to generate a profit for two consecutive years. The rule would apply only to companies with sales of more than 50 billion forints in both years, and it would exempt companies in their first four years of business.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters