In 2025, Hungary will implement a retail sales tax on online platforms, ensuring that digital businesses contribute their fair share to the economy.
Hungary seeks to amend its tax legislation to subject revenues from online platform goods to the retail sales tax established in 2020. Should this proposal be enacted, the revised regulations would take effect on January 1, 2025. The tax is currently under scrutiny by the European Commission, which initiated infringement proceedings in October 2024, citing non-compliance with the right of establishment within the Single Market and the discriminatory impact on non-resident retailers due to a calculation method that results in higher tax rates for businesses not originating from Hungary.
The proposed regulations would encompass non-resident platforms, which would be assessed based on their global revenues to ascertain their liability for the retail tax, potentially imposing a gross receipts rate of 2.7% on local sales.
Additionally, the proposal introduces deemed supplier obligations, whereby the facilitating marketplace assumes the tax responsibilities of the retailer. However, the retailer would still bear secondary liability if the marketplace fails to fulfill its obligations.
The maximum tax rate is set at 2.7% for gross receipts exceeding €25 million.
Adjusting the retail sales tax rate involves the following tiers:
A rate of 0.1% applies to sales ranging from HUF 500 million to HUF 30 billion.
A rate of 0.4% is applicable for sales between HUF 30 billion and HUF 100 billion.
A rate of 2.7% is imposed on sales exceeding HUF 100 billion.
For non-resident platforms, their global revenues will be assessed to determine eligibility for the tax and the applicable rate. However, the tax obligation arises solely from income generated through sales to Hungarian consumers. Consequently, many mid-sized platforms and larger entities would be subject to the 2.7% tax rate.
Regarding the definition of online marketplaces, Hungarian legislation aligns with the EU’s DAC7 framework, which specifically excludes:
