Government submits bill on special retail tax for large companies in Hungary

The government has submitted to parliament a bill on introducing a special retail tax on large companies to offset the impact of the novel coronavirus epidemic, the finance ministry said.

The tax will not affect small retailers, the ministry said.

Companies with annual revenues between 500 million forints (EUR 1.4m) and 30 billion would pay 0.1 percent on net sales, while revenues between 30 billion and 100 billion would be taxed at 0.4 percent.

Revenues above that would be taxed at 2.5 percent.

The government decided to tax large retailers as a contribution to the epidemic protection efforts, the statement said. The special retail tax will help Hungary protect its economic results achieved before of the epidemic, it said.

The measure aims to put the burden of economic recovery on businesses that achieved outstanding profits and secured a substantial market advantage before the crisis, the statement said.

Online multinational companies such as Amazon, Wish and AliExpress are not exempt from the tax,

the ministry said, adding that the national tax authority will monitor their compliance regularly.

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Source: MTI