The government is levying further taxes, citing the war in Ukraine and the geopolitical situation. Multinational companies that make extra profits will have to pay a so-called “defense contribution”.
The money will flow into the defense fund, which was set up in 2022 in connection with the war in Ukraine. This will primarily affect the banking sector, large multinational and energy companies.
In addition, the so-called transaction fee will be increased to 0.45% from August 1 with an upper cost limit of HUF 20,000 (EUR 51), and to 0.9% for cash withdrawals. A fee of 0.45% will also be charged for foreign exchange transactions. To prevent banks from passing this increase on to customers, a “fee freeze” is in place for the current year, i.e. banks are not allowed to pass on the additional costs to customers by increasing account and bank card fees.
The government expects the banking sector to increase its overall holdings of government bonds by purchasing government bonds maturing after 2027 instead of restructuring its portfolio of government bonds.