Is the Hungarian government profiteering from the VAT on utility bills?

Opposition politician István Újhelyi says the Hungarian government does not defend the reduction in the VAT on utility bills. In fact, Fidesz is even profiteering from the VAT rate on utility bills, the Socialists politician said.

Gas and electricity prices to rise

As we have reported, the Hungarian government will increase the price of gas and electricity above a certain threshold. The price of the former will increase sevenfold, while the latter will double. As you can read in our previous article, Hungary still has some of the cheapest electricity and gas prices in Europe.

However, István Újhelyi, a politician from the opposition Socialists, believes that Fidesz is profiteering from the VAT on utility bills, writes népszava.hu. “After twelve years of continuous, unlimited power, it would not be such a luxury for the government to be honest, or at least not to mislead the Hungarian,” Újhelyi wrote in his Facebook post.

According to the Socialist politician, the central issue for Fidesz is the protection and representation of families and the Hungarian people. But these are just words, and in reality, the government is deceiving them. According to Újhelyi, this is also the case with the energy bill reduction.

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Extra money from the VAT on utility bills?

“It trumpets in [publicly funded] adverts that even in the current straitened situation it [the government] will defend the cuts – which is factually untrue. Not only because the vast majority of the population will soon feel in their own pockets that they have simply been duped by the lying propaganda slogans before the elections, but also because the government could do much more for Hungarian consumers if it did not try to profit from them even in this situation,” says Újhelyi.

Only the Fidesz government is keeping energy VAT at record highs. In Croatia it has been halved, in Romania, Spain and Poland it has been reduced to five percent. Even in Luxembourg, Europe’s richest small state, the tax is 14%.

“If there is a shred of decency left in government leaders, they will abolish VAT on gas and electricity with immediate effect, or at least reduce it to 5 percent. The EU gives them the opportunity to do so, they can’t blame it on “Brussels”. It is a system of government by order, with a two-thirds majority in the parliament, so they can do whatever they want. If they want to,” Újhelyi concluded.

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Source: Facebook, népszava.hu