29
Fri, Mar
48 New Articles

Hungarian Advertisement Tax – Opinion of the Advocate General Has Been Released

Hungarian Advertisement Tax – Opinion of the Advocate General Has Been Released

Hungary
Tools
Typography
  • Smaller Small Medium Big Bigger
  • Default Helvetica Segoe Georgia Times

In 2014 Hungary introduced the advertisement tax as a direct business tax that must be paid by media content and service providers and publishers of advertisements. The tax base is the net sales revenue originating from the taxable activities in the tax year, i.e. the turnover and not the profit, and a progressive tax rate was established originally with six tax rates between 0% and 40%. After several amendments, since 1 July 2017 the tax rates were 0% up to HUF 100 million and 7.5% for the portion exceeding this amount. From 1 July 2019 the advertisement has been temporarily suspended and the tax rate was decreased to 0%.

In November 2016, the European Commission stated that the Hungarian advertisement tax is incompatible with the common market, since mainly companies with a high turnover (i.e. large undertakings) are affected by this tax. As such, it grants for smaller undertakings an impermissible advantage, thus it must be considered as State aid.

Hungary challenged the decision of the Commission before the General Court of the European Union. In June 2019, the General Court upheld the actions, annulled the Commission’s decision and declared that the fact that higher thresholds has been established by progressive taxation in respect of this advertisement tax as turnover tax, it does not itself result in the existence of a selective advantage for companies with lower turnover. The Commission brought an appeal against the judgement of the General Court before the Court of Justice.

On 15 October 2020, the opinion of Advocate General Juliane Kokott was released, proposing that the Court of Justice dismiss the Commission’s appeal and uphold the judgment of the General Court. The opinion is not binding on the Court of Justice, however, it has an important role for proposing a legal solution in the given case in complete independence. The Advocate General referred to the fundamental freedom to introduce a turnover-based progressive tax, since the amount of turnover means a neutral criterion of differentiation and it can reflect the taxable person’s ability to pay. She emphasized that a generally applicable tax law creating the reference framework would only be deemed as an aid if its design was manifestly inconsistent. However, the existence of such inconsistency could not be established by the General Court and the progressive tax rate itself does not constitute an inconsistency. The Advocate General also highlighted that the turnover-based taxation has its advantages and disadvantages, however, the appropriate tax must be determined by the given tax legislature, not by an authority or a court.

By Lidia Suveges, Attorney at law, KCG Partners Law Firm

Hungary Knowledge Partner

Nagy és Trócsányi was founded in 1991, turned into limited professional partnership (in Hungarian: ügyvédi iroda) in 1992, with the aim of offering sophisticated legal services. The firm continues to seek excellence in a comprehensive and modern practice, which spans international commercial and business law. 

The firm’s lawyers provide clients with advice and representation in an active, thoughtful and ethical manner, with a real understanding of clients‘ business needs and the markets in which they operate.

The firm is one of the largest home-grown independent law firms in Hungary. Currently Nagy és Trócsányi has 26 lawyers out of which there are 8 active partners. All partners are equity partners.

Nagy és Trócsányi is a legal entity and registered with the Budapest Bar Association. All lawyers of the Budapest office are either members of, or registered as clerks with, the Budapest Bar Association. Several of the firm’s lawyers are admitted attorneys or registered as legal consultants in New York.

The firm advises a broad range of clients, including numerous multinational corporations. 

Our activity focuses on the following practice areas: M&A, company law, litigation and dispute resolution, real estate law, banking and finance, project financing, insolvency and restructuring, venture capital investment, taxation, competition, utilities, energy, media and telecommunication.

Nagy és Trócsányi is the exclusive member firm in Hungary for Lex Mundi – the world’s leading network of independent law firms with in-depth experience in 100+countries worldwide.

The firm advises a broad range of clients, including numerous multinational corporations. Among our key clients are: OTP Bank, Sberbank, Erste Bank, Scania, KS ORKA, Mannvit, DAF Trucks, Booking.com, Museum of Fine Arts of Budapest, Hungarian Post Pte Ltd, Hiventures, Strabag, CPI Hungary, Givaudan, Marks & Spencer, CBA.

Firm's website.

Our Latest Issue