NAV staff met quarterly performance incentive thresholds and got their bonuses over the holidays, Tállai said.

He noted that tax cuts introduced at the start of the year would save businesses some 580 billion forints, or 1.5 percent of planned GDP for the year.

Tállai said the tax burden-to-GDP ratio would decrease from 39 percent to 38 percent by the end of 2017.

Revenue from special taxes increased by 4 percent last year, or 466 billion forints, he said. Tállai also noted that the mandatory use of tills connected directly to the tax office has been expanded to ten new services as of Jan. 1, 2017.

The state secretary also noted that payroll taxes have been reduced from 27 percent to 22 percent.

He said the six-year deal signed late last year between the government, employers and unions that pairs marked increases in the minimum wage with payroll tax cuts could see payroll taxes fall by 15.5 percentage points by the end of the six-year period.

Tállai said the payroll tax cuts would save businesses 380 billion forints this year, while a further 2-percentage point cut to be implemented next year would boost those savings to 540 billion forints.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.

Photo: kormany.hu