With the new levies the government can keep the budget deficit below 3% of GDP, hence Hungary could be exempt from the excess budget deficit procedure, he added.

The financial tax will impose 0.001% on nearly all bank transactions without an upper limit. In the updated Széll Kálmán plan the government had planned to cap transaction tax payments at Ft 30,000.

Transfers between different accounts held by the same individual will not be taxed, and Central Bank and Treasury transactions will also be exempt. Transfers of Ft 5 million and above must be carried out through banks, the government decided.

The financial transaction tax is expected to generate Ft 130 billion in revenue this year.

Bank sector burdens will rise next year with the introduction of the financial transaction tax, as the bank tax will still be in place, albeit reduced, writes Napi Gazdaság.

The government has approved the telephone tax as originally planned, shrugging off objections by telecom companies. A Ft 2 levy on each calling minute, SMS and MMS message will be charged from July, which could generate Ft 30 billion revenue this year and Ft 50-60 billion in 2013.

Monthly telephone tax payments will be capped at Ft 700 for retail and Ft 2,500 for corporate clients. The first ten minutes of calls each month will be tax-free.

A unified insurance tax will replace the crisis tax on insurance companies, accident tax, and fire protection contribution, starting next year, adding Ft 15 billion to the budget, Matolcsy said.

The Economy Ministry also introduced a 30% corporate tax as a combination of two existing taxes, the 19% corporate tax and an 11% Robin Hood tax, lowered from its current rate of 16%. The government plans to phase out crisis taxes for oil and utility companies next year.

Source: Hungary Around the Clock

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