Hungary is a safe haven concerning the global minimum tax. Standard corporate tax remains 9% for small and medium sized companies, while the 15% global minimum tax only affects international corporations with a yearly revenue above EUR 750 million. Read on to learn what this means for your Hungarian business.
Global minimum tax
The introduction of the global minimum tax is an OECD initiative created to combat tax evasion by international corporations that often move their bases of operation to tax havens in order to lower their taxes. The gist is that enterprise groups with a total yearly revenue above EUR 750 million must pay a profit tax of at least 15%, regardless of the location of their seat.
Obviously, the global minimum tax does not affect small and medium-sized businesses – as long as they are standalone businesses. If your Hungarian company is a subsidiary or other affiliate of another business, the combined revenue of the enterprise group must be counted to decide whether the global minimum tax is relevant to it as a whole. If it is, special rules will apply to the corporate tax it pays in Hungary.
Reporting and paying the global minimum tax in Hungary
In practice, this means that if your Hungarian company is affected, it would normally be supposed to pay the global minimum tax for 2024 by June 30, 2026. Hungarian regulations, however, are more restrictive. For the fiscal year of 2024, you are supposed to
- pay the 9% Hungarian corporate tax advance payments throughout 2024
- calculate the yearly Hungarian corporate tax and top up your payments by May 31, 2025 (if the sum of the advance payments is more than the final result, you can reclaim the difference)
- calculate the 15% global minimum tax, deduct what you have already paid for the Hungarian corporate tax, and pay the difference to the Hungarian Tax Authority by November 20, 2025.
The Hungarian structure meets OECD requirements. This way, the Hungarian top-up advance tax is a Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax (QDMTT), based on which Hungary has been granted a QDMTT Safe Harbour status. Since the global minimum tax is understood to be levied at the source, in Hungary, other countries cannot include Hungarian affiliates when making calculations regarding the global minimum tax to be paid by the group. This lightens both the group’s administrative and tax burdens.
Your Hungarian business in good hands
Whether or not the global minimum tax is relevant to your Hungarian business, Helpers is here to help you navigate Hungarian bureaucracy, so you can focus on what you do best: growing your business.
Do you need help with company setup, mail forwarding, accounting, or payroll? We are here to help. Just send us a message, and an expert will contact you to discuss your plans and find you solutions tailored to your needs.
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