According to the Mt., working remotely initially only applies if someone does their work exclusively from home, in principle, working partly in an office and partly at home does not fall within its scope.

The regulation, which is in force at the time of the emergency, allows for a derogation from that rule, i.e. companies may agree with their employees to apply the rules on remote work even if the worker does not carry out his work exclusively from home.

It was made possible for companies to provide tax-free support for the home office on a monthly basis up to an amount equal to 10 percent of the minimum wage (up to HUF 16,100).  This is already payable within the frame of November payroll.

According to the decree, the tax-free allowance can be granted to “an employee who works remotely in accordance with the terms of his employment contract”.

According to the Mt., in principle, the employment contract must be in a written form, and can only be amended in the same way, thus the employer and the employee must meet at least once to amend the employment contract in writing, otherwise the Tax authority may object to the tax exemption for this reimbursement.

It is also an open question for which period the aid can be granted, since the regulation entered into force in the middle of the month, specifically on Thursday 12 November.

The regulation does not contain any transitional provisions, it only states that an amount equal to 10 per cent of the minimum wage can be granted for the month of November. Thus, the same amount can be granted tax-free for the remaining two weeks as it can be granted for a 30-day-month.

Of course, the benefit is only available to those whose work allows them to work from home.

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