Hungary VAT Information: rates, registration number

Standard rate

The standard VAT rate in Hungary in 2023 is 27%.

Hungary collects lower VAT

18%

Explore Hungarian food facts;
Hungary is home to many festivals.

Examples of Hungarian food;
Learn how medical devices are used in Hungary;
Ways Hungary is providing access to pharmaceuticals;
Hungarian publishers and bookstores.

What is the threshold for making a purchase with Hungarian Forint?

Distances sales thresholds have been lifted from the 1st of July 2021 and all EU members will now have the same threshold of €10,000.

Deductible VAT

What do you need to know about VAT in Hungary?

1,500 years of Hungarian history;
The importance of intra-EU acquisitions of goods and transactions;
Restrictions on Hungarian imports.

The process of registering in Hungary

To get your tax number, you are required to submit a tax form (application).

To file form 21T201, you need to submit in a paper-based format in 2 copies to the Tax Authority of the first instance with territorial jurisdiction, or electronically via Client Gate in one copy;
Certified Hungarian translation of the certificate;
Specimen signature;
The company needs a certificate from the competent tax authority as confirmation that they have domestic tax residence in an individual country;
If the obligation to register a business activity occurs after the business has started, you must also include the date that you first started this activity.

When there is a tax audit and you are questioned on any inconsistencies, you can attach relevant documents in a scanned format and enclose paper copies in photocopies.

Learn about Hungary’s tax representative service

If your company is located outside the European Union, you will have to appoint a fiscal representative to handle all formalities related to VAT registration and filling.

Tax deadline: VAT returns

To be compliant, you need to submit the recapitulative statement with the same frequency as your tax return frequency. As a general rule, taxable persons who file monthly VAT returns are required to submit a recapitulative statement by the 20th day of the month following the month in question, and quarterly VAT return recipients must submit them on or by the 20th day of the following quarter.

When is VAT due for Hungary?

As of 2018, Hungarian VAT returns must be submitted through the e-service.

Keeping records

All Hungarian citizen information must be kept for 8 years.

Penalties

Violations of deadlines or failures to provide information can result in penalties up to HUF 500,000.

VAT Standard rate

The standard VAT rate in Hungary in 2023 is 27%.

VAT Reduced rate

5% – Internet access services

Threshold

The tax threshold is €10,000 for digital services.

Pieces of evidence

To identify the customer’s location, the merchant has to collect AT LEAST two pieces of information. If they are both in Hungary, it is likely that the customer is Hungarian:

Customer’s permanent address;
Billing address (bank or electronic payment operator);
IP address;
Telephone number;
The location of the customer’s fixed landline through which the service is supplied to him;
Other commercially relevant information.

E-services list

As per EU law, a digital product includes any product that’s delivered through the Internet or emailed to you. These products are delivered by email or downloaded from the internet and include goods or services:

E-books, images, movies, and videos, whether buying a copy from Shopify or using a service like Netflix. In tax language, these products are in a category usually called, «Audio, visual, or audio-visual products»;
Downloadable and streaming music, whether buying an MP3 or using a service like SoundCloud or Spotify. Of course, these products also fall into the audio category;
Cloud-based software and as-a-Service products, such as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS);
Websites, site hosting services, and internet service providers;
Online ads and affiliate marketing.

Registration procedure

New users should follow the “Union Scheme” option, and established taxable persons should follow the “non-Union Scheme” option. The company must submit its full name and identification number to register in Hungary’s MOSS Portal. Once they’ve successfully registered, they’ll receive an email activation link that allows them access to the MOSS portal by entering their e-mail and password:

Taxable persons not established in the EU (non-Union scheme):

Company’s name, a trading name of the company if different from the company name, full postal address, email address and website of the taxable person, name and phone number of the contact person, BIC number;
National tax number, if any;
Country in which the taxable person has his place of business;
IBAN or OBAN number;
An electronic declaration that the taxable person is not registered for VAT within the Union;
Date of commencement of using the scheme.

A taxable person established in Hungary (Union scheme):

Company’s name, a trading name of the company if different from the company name, full postal address, email address and website of the taxable person, name and phone number of the contact person, BIC number;
Tax identification number in Hungary;
Full postal address of fixed establishment(s) situated in other Member States of the European Community;
VAT identification number issued to the taxable person by any Member State of the European Community where the taxable person is not established;
VAT identification number issued by any Member State of the European Community where the taxable person’s fixed establishment is located, or tax reference number in the absence thereof;
Country where the taxable person is established if established outside the territory of the European Community;
Date of commencement of using the scheme;
IBAN number.

Keeping records

You need to follow the books for 10 years after which you sold their service, and have your work on hand if requested.

Filling VAT returns

You have to submit quarterly VAT returns to your member state of identification, where the information is then transferred securely to the member state of consumption.

VAT payment date

A tax is paid in Hungarian currency using a bank transfer. You must make the payment no later than the filing deadline and use reference to the tax declaration on which it is based.