“Brussels would like to carve an increasingly large slice out of Hungary’s tax policies, with which it is endangering the results that Hungarian economic policy has achieved so far and which could lead to tax increases for Hungarian families and businesses.”, Minister of State for Government Communication Bence Tuzson said at a press conference on Sunday.

According to the Minister of State from the Prime Minister’s Office, Brussels’ field of interest is now not only concerned with the Government’s migration policy, but also with its tax policy, and for this reason the Government is asking every Hungarian citizen who feels it is important to preserve the Cabinet’s tax reduction policy to fill out the National Consultation questionnaires on the subject. “Hungary’s policies can only be successful if it also has the backing of the Hungarian people”, he said.

Mr. Tuzson highlighted the fact that Hungary has been practicing its own style of economic policies since 2010, thanks to which the country is gaining strength both financially and economically, which it has been able to achieve mainly through tax cuts.

“Because Hungary has turned its back on the policy of tax increases and austerity, and instead has been gradually decreasing taxes since 2010”, Mr. Tuzson said, citing as an example the fact that personal income tax has been reduced from 32 percent to 15 percent, in addition to which family tax benefits were introduced and have been continuously expanded and corporation tax has also been cut from 19 percent to 9 percent, while burdens on work have also gradually fallen.

According to the Minister of State, the Government has also cut the rate of VAT on the goods and services most important to families, including housing, the most important foodstuffs and internet access.

Mr. Tuzson stressed that thanks to all these the economy, employment and wages have all increased in Hungary, but this could all be endangered if Hungary loses the right to determine its own tax policies.

“Brussels wants to interfere in Hungarian tax policy ‘partly through stealth and party directly’, which would most certainly not serve the interests of the Hungarian people or Hungarian businesses, because Brussels generally decides in favour of the multinationals”, the Minister of State said, according to whom what is important for the Government is that mutual burden-bearing should remain in place, meaning large companies and banks must also pay their fair share of taxes.

Mr. Tuzson explained that this was why the Government had introduced taxes on banks and advertising revenue, as well as other special taxes on other high-profit sectors. “If Brussels were to succeed in removing Hungary’s right to decide on these matters then tax policy would serve the interests of the multinationals”, he added, noting that certain Brussels politicians are already openly suggesting that “the EU should introduced direct taxes to finance migration or perhaps even levy taxes via its member states”.

“We cannot allow the Brussels bureaucrats to decide how much tax we Hungarians have to pay, contrary to the decisions of Hungary’s Parliament or the Hungarian Government”, Mr. Tuzson said.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)