“The Tax Conference, which was convened for the second time, focused on international taxation. In addition to wanting to ensure as soon as possible that multinational companies also pay the taxes that are due to the state treasury, we would like to introduce the mandatory international tax regulations in such a way that they provide enterprises with the most favourable tax environment possible and even more foreign investors choose Hungary as their base of operations”, Minister of State for taxation Norbert Izer told Hungarian news agency MTI.

The Minister of State said Hungary had won several acknowledgements recently within the field of taxation.

“Hungary became the European Union’s greatest reducer of taxes, and in fact the leaders of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) cited the many innovations and methods of the Hungarian tax system as an example to their member states”, he pointed out.

“Hungary’s tax policy is also paying off in view of the fact that the country is now among the world’s ten best investment destinations, which may be further improved by the decision issued by Standard & Poor’s on 15 February”, he explained. “The higher credit rating could also bring more foreign investors”, Mr. Izer noted.

The  Minister of State highlighted the fact that one of today’s greatest challenges is international taxation, and accordingly Hungary also needs an innovative approach, since favourable regulations not only help Hungarian-based enterprises, but more and more foreign companies could also decide to invest in Hungary. This is why the Ministry of Finance convened the second Tax Conference, so that tax consultants with the greatest international experience can assist the Ministry in this task, he added.

The most current topic of the Conference was the transposition of the EU’s tax avoidance directives. Most regulations need to be applied from 1 January 2020, and accordingly this will be one of the most important themes of the spring tax amendment bill, with which the state treasury could win twice: techniques to combat tax avoidance could mean huge companies pay more money, while new investment could also have a favourable effect on the budget’s revenue indices.

According to OECD estimates, multinational companies pay 100-240 billion dollars less in taxes globally by applying international tax avoidance strategies, primarily through exploiting the differences between the tax regulations of international treaties and individual states. Characteristically, they establish subsidiaries all over the world that do not perform business activities and only exist on paper, or enter into economically unjustified financial procedures within the company group, in order to reduce their tax payment liabilities. The Tax Conference could also help to close tax avoidance loopholes, Mr. Izer underlined.

(MTI)