Not even the coronavirus is able to “override” the government’s fiscal policy pursued since 2010; also during the state of danger, taxes and administrative burdens are being reduced, the Minister of State for Taxation at the Ministry of Finance stated at the Friday online press conference of the Operational Group responsible for the containment of the coronavirus epidemic.

Norbert Izer said in the past two months the government has adopted a number of measures in the interest of slowing down the epidemic, preserving Hungarian people’s health and protecting families, jobs and the economy. He added that the government had spent more than HUF 600 billion on the containment effort, and thousands of billions of forints on supporting families and businesses.

In addition to making grants available and reducing taxes, the reduction of administration is also an important measure. According to an international survey, on average businesses spend 2.5 per cent of their revenues on tax administration, and the percentage of this burden is the highest among small and medium-sized enterprises, the Minister of State pointed out.

The National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV) could repay reclaimable VAT to SMEs within just 20 days practically with zero administration which also helps with their liquidity as businesses will have swifter access to funds and will be able to join the restarting of the economy sooner, Mr Izer said.

Based on the rule that was already in effect in the case of the 20 April VAT returns, some two thirds of the 36,700 businesses reclaiming VAT will receive the VAT they are entitled to more swiftly. Already on 10 May, the tax authority transferred some HUF 80 billion to the 10,100 businesses which qualify as reliable taxpayers. In the case of SMEs falling into the general category, the time limit for the refunding of VAT has been reduced from 75 days to just 30. The 12,000 businesses concerned will receive reclaimed VAT worth HUF 75 billion already on 20 May instead of 4 July, the politician highlighted.

The government has postponed the deadline for the submission of annual reports and related annual tax returns as well as the payment of related taxes by four months, from 31 May to 30 September. This measure concerns around 600,000 companies and civil-society organisations. The delayed payment of the five taxes concerned – corporation tax, the tax of small businesses, the income tax of energy providers, local trade tax and the innovation contribution – will provide excess liquidity in the magnitude of HUF 200 billion for businesses for four months, the Minister of State indicated.

(Ministry of Finance/MTI)